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Book 



IRISH MADE EASY; 

OR, 

A PRACTICAL IRISH GRAMMAR. 

BY THE AUTHOR OF 

" O'BRENNAN'S IRELAND. " 



" l)e|6 at) qAo6a]15 £A irjeAf triora j:6r." 

O'MOLLOY. 

44 Est quidem lingua Hibernica, et elegans cum prirais, etopulenta.' 

Usher, Epist. i. 
" Kftt 6elb An borbATi U]le 
CeAT)5A it TTjjlre, TT»6t>cUTle 
tte btt]AtttA|b ]f bmcz>xt)\\]ze blAf 
Ca|T)c ]f c|ATicu]lce cuncAf." 

H. Mac Curtin. 



LONDON: 
Catholic $ttMfe{jmg mxh ^oohtllxn^ fompattg, Itimttelr, 

CHARLES DOLMAN, MANAGER, 

61, NEW BOND STREET, & 6, QUEEN'S HEAD PASSAGE, 

paternoster row ; 

J. MULLANY, 1, PARLIAMENT STREET, DUBLIN, 
1859. 






„ 



O 



[Entered at Stationers' Hall.'] 



GRACE THE MOST REV. JOHN MAC HALE, 

|Tortr girtijbis!j0p oi % warn, 



OLLOWING PAGES ARE, WITH PROFOUND VENERATION, 
DEDICATED BY 



HIS GRACES MOST DEVOTED SERVANT, 



MARTIN A. O'BRENNAN, 

MEMBER OF THE HONORABLE SOCIETY, QUEEN'S INNS, 

And Principal of the Collegiate Seminary, 
57, Bolton-street, Dublin. 



PREFACE. 



Utility being my aim in giving this work to the 
public, a display of learning has been avoided, and, 
therefore, critical disquisitions are not introduced. I 
feel that some originality, and many improvements, 
will be met with throughout the work. As the book 
is intended to create a taste for, to spread a knowledge 
of, and to aid in perpetuating the Irish language, every- 
thing that might be calculated to embarrass the student 
has been carefully pretermitted, whilst anything I 
thought necessary for his guidance is inserted, in as 
plain a manner as the dignity of speech permitted. 
To write largely on a subject is not very difficult, but 
to treat of it within a small compass, without being 
obscure, and yet to the purpose, is not an easy matter. 
If I have succeeded in this respect, I am satisfied that 
I have rendered some service to the national tongue. 

The grammar was not written because I considered 
other grammars imperfect, but because they were out 
of print, and because, even if they were not, they 
were too expensive for the emergency, and too large for 



VI PREFACE. 

the class of readers, at whose request I prepared mine* 
The daily growing desire for the cultivation of our 
mother-tongue demanded a cheap and easy hand-book, 
brought within the means of the industrious classes, 
and, at the same time, with its style and diction not 
inferior, perhaps, to more pretentious volumes. 

Dr. O'Donovan's treatise on the language will be 
ever looked upon as a learned compilation, and the 
production of an accomplished scholar and a polished 
writer. The grammar from the pen of the Rev. Ulic 
Bourke, Professor of Saint Jarlath's, Tuam, is a very 
useful one, exhibits much learning, and a thorough 
acquaintance with the subject treated of. I hope he 
will be induced to publish a new edition. The more 
numerous the skilled laborers, the better will be the cul- 
tivation of the garden of literature. Haliday's — taking 
into account his youth, the fact of his being a citizen of 
Dublin, and the time at which he wrote — was a great 
effort of talent and genius. Mr. Connellan's work did 
some good service in the cause ; but the Rev. Paul 
O'Brien's has no claim to learning. Whoever is the 
author of the beautiful articles on the Irish, which have 
been published in The Nation, he has been working to 
great advantage, in scattering broad-cast a knowledge of 
the vernacular. That erudite and talented journal has 



PREFACE. VII 



penetrated regions, hitherto strangers to our rich 
tongue. The value of the lessons in The Nation 
cannot be too highly estimated. The exiled Gael? 
wheresoever fortune has thrown them, cherish an un- 
dying love for the language of their chivalrous ancestors. 
To all points of the compass have the lessons alluded to 
made their way on the wings of the Press — nay, to 
places whither my little work may never go. As the 
grain of seed, carried in the bird's bill from a distant 
land, and dropped in our island, has often taken root, 
budded, and grown into a majestic tree, so, perchance 5 
the lessons will yield a matured crop of Irish knowledge 
in remote climes, whence the wanderers may yet return 
to the green isle, as did the Israelites of old to the 
Land of Promise. 

The Irish American, published in America, and a 
few other American journals which reached me, have 
been laboring with great success in the same direction. 

Some learned Germans published voluminous works 
on the Irish tongue. These, though interesting to the 
antiquarian and philologist, present very little that 
could be of use in such a treatise as the following. 
Dr. O'Donovan refers to them as authorities on my 
subject. That is a matter of opinion. As for me I 
had rather address myself to an intelligent Irish 



Vili PREFACE. 

peasant, and, with the help of what I could glean from 
his conversation, arrive at a conclusion for the proper 
structure of a sentence, than to one hundred foreigners. 
Theory, with practice, is good, but mere theory oil 
any subject is unsafe. 

As the student advances in my grammar, he will 
observe, that the rules for his instructions are plain 
and intelligible. The letters will be found in the 
order in which nature suggests their sounds. For 
instance, according to the promptings of nature, the 
order of the vocal or vowel sounds is e, 1, a, o, 
u — their artificial sounds being h, \, '&, 6, u. The 
mouth opens gently with e, and closes with u. 
B, ], are slender vowels ; but^ accented, as h, f, 
they are slender and long — they are slender, as they 
regard the opening of the mouth ; but long, as they 
refer to the time occupied in pronouncing them. %, 
o, u, are the broad vowels ; but when written with the 
accent, thus, &, 6, u, they are said to be broad and 
long — broad, because the mouth opens widely to sound 
them ; long, because more time is occupied in pro- 
nouncing them with the accent than without it. 

As practical Greek and Latin grammars do not ■ 
include more of Prosody than the rules of pronun- 
ciation, so neither does my work. A treatise on versi- 



PREFACE. IX 

fication is an ample subject for a separate volume. 
Whoever will take the trouble of examining 

" Vocalem breviant, alia subeunte, Latini," 
with all its exceptional clauses, and some others equally 
puzzling to the tyro — will, no doubt, at once, admit that 
no language has such clearly defined rules of pronun- 
ciation as the Irish. 

There are, I feel, defects in my unpretending 
treatise, as there have been in the grammar of every 
tongue, whilst the mode of conveying a knowledge of 
it was in a state of development. 

Whatever I might be induced to write of the many 
beauties of our tongue, will be found, amply discussed 
in "O'Brennan's Antiquities," " Ancient Ireland," 
and in my " Essay on Ireland." I will close with a 
short extract from the Archbishop of Tuam's preface to 
the Book of Genesis in Irish : — 

" It is now some time since the fury of that tem- 
pest, spent by its own violence, has subsided. But 
though our ecclesiastics have come forth, displaying a 
zeal and learning worthy of any period of the Church, 
and though our colleges and temples are once more 
covering the land, it is to be regretted that our lan- 
guage has not yet been made the vehicle of conveying 
the entire wisdom of the inspired writings to the people* 



x Preface. 

" The Irish language, from its insular position, as 
well as the freedom of the island from roman invasion, 
was not exposed, it is true, to the vicissitudes of the 
other European tongues. It had acquired full matu- 
rity, when those were yet almost unshapen." 

All who wish to preserve the Irish language, should 
secure copies of the Irish translations of the Bible, 
Moore's Melodies, Homer's Iliad, by the most distin- 
guished, in fact, the only Irish writer of the day, the 
illustrious Prelate of the West. 

M. A. O'B. 



CONTENTS. 



1. Grammar defined 

2. Vowels 



3. The Irish Alphabet — letters arranged in their natural order 4 

4. Dentals and Palatals . . . . . 5 

5. Mortified Letters . . . . .5 

6. Names of Letters . . . . . 6 
7- Extract from the Grammar of the Rev. Paul O'Brien . 7 

8. Sounds of the Vowels . . . . . 8 

9. Diphthongs and their Sounds (see note at foot of page 14 for 

the real Diphthongs) . . , . . 12 

10. Triphthongs and their Sounds . . .15 

11. Consonants and their powers . , . . 16 

12. Aspirations (see also rules on them in Syntax,) . .17 
J 3. Etymology ; the Article . . . . 20 

14. Gender . . . . . ,23 

15. Declensions of Nouns . . . . . 23 

16. First Declension . . . . .24 

17. Second Declension . , . . . 27 

18. Third Declension . . . . .27 

19. Fourth Declension . . . . . 29 

20. Fifth Declension . . . . .29 

21. 22, 23, 24, 25. Adjectives and their Declensions . 30, 31 
26. Comparison of Adjeetives : the Numerals — Cardinal and 

Ordinal . . . ... 32 to 36 

27 to 34. Pronouns . . , . 36 to 40 

35 to 69. Verbs . . . . . 40 to 61 

70. Adverbs . . . . . .62 

71. Prepositions • . . . . . 62 

72. Conjunctions . . . . .63 

73. Interjections .' . . . . 63 

74. Syntax . . . . . .63 

75. 76. Government — Figure . . . 64 



Xll 



CONTENTS. 



77- Rules for the Article, and Notes on its proper use 64 

78. Government of Substantives . . . . 67 

79. Government of Adjectives . . . .69 

80. Rules for Pronouns . . . . 71 

81. Government of Verbs . . . . 71 

82. The Case Absolute— no such case in Irish . . . 72 

83. Rules for Aspirations, and Use of the Hyphen . . 72 

84. Eclipses, or Mortified Letters . . . 76 

85. Cod struction of Conjunctions . . .79 

86. The Use of Interjections . . . . 80 

87. Prosody . . . . . .80 

88. Pronunciation . . - . . 80 

89. Accent . . . . . .81 

90. Quantity . . . . . . 82 



*#* See " Errata," at page 85. 



IRISH" GRAMMAR. 



1. — Irish Grammar is the art of speaking and writing 
the language with propriety. Its parts are four: 
Orthography, Etymology, Syntax, and Prosody. 

Orthography is a treatise on letters, showing their 
sounds and several combinations. The other parts of 
grammar will be defined in their proper places. 

The modern alphabet has seventeen letters — b is not 
included, it being only an aspirate, as indeed it is in 
every tongue. 

THE IRISH ALPHABET. 

2 VOWELS.* 

6 sounds as a in ale, e in bet, but never as e in me, 
which sounds mee. 

) sounds as the Italian i, long, like e in me, and i in 
hit ; e ] are the slender vowels, so called because the 
mouth opens but slightly to sound them. 

21 sounds generally as a in what, also as a in hat, a 
in all, sometimes as short ], thus A5, the participle 
sign, sounds igg* 

O sounds generally as in pot, o in vote, as in 
combat, where sounds like short u. 

U sounds as 00 in tool, or u in dull. 

* Every single vowel being the last letter of a monosyllable is, by 
position, always long, but always short in the same place in words of 
more than one syllable. 

This mark = signifies " equal to," or " sounds." 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 



3. — CONSONANTS.* 



The letters are given in the exact order in which they are sounded, 
m being the nearest the voice sound, or vowel, and r the farthest 
from it. 

2t) rt) not accented, sounds as M in English (aspir- 
able or mutable) also a liquid. 

B b not accented, sounds as B in English (aspirable 
or mutable). 

P p not accented, sounds as P in English (aspirable 
or mutable). 

*f x not accented, sounds as F in English (aspirable 
or mutable). 

*G z not accented, sounds as T in English (aspirable 
or mutable). 

<t) b not accented, sounds as D in English (aspirable 
or mutable). 

L I which is never aspirated, and which is called 
an immutable, also a liquid, sounds as if h followed — 
that is, as Ham in William — in the beginning of words 
or syllables ; but I final sounds as L in English. 

C c not accented, always sounds as K in English 
(aspirable or mutable). 

3 5 not accented, always sounds as G in gat in 
English (aspirable or mutable). 

?S| v is never aspirated, sounds as N in English, but 
is more liquid, like ng in rang. 

K ft is never aspirated, sounds as R in English (a 
liquid). 

S X sounds sh in she, before or after e, ] (excepting 

If), but before or after a, o, u, as s in sat, son, sun (a 

mutable). 

N.B. — There are some exceptional sounds from these given above, 
but they are so few and so purely accidental, that they deserve little 

* A consonant is called mutable because it loses its natural sound 
by having over it a dot (thus, b), or an b after it (thus, bl), w or v). 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 5 

attention. The reader will please observe, that b, c, I, invariably 
sound as if h were placed after them, for example, &a, ca, Ia, sounds 
dhaw, thaw, lhaw. 

Every single vowel coming before an aspirated final consonant in a 
monosyllable, is, by position, long ; and the same rule holds good in 
words of more than one syllable, except as regards a, which, in 
some counties, sounds u before aspirated 6, ri), as tt>a&a6, &eAT)Aiij, 
which sound modhu, dheeuu, but, in other counties, a, in the same 
position, sounds oo, thus modhoo, dheenoo ; a6 ; Aq, having imme- 
diately after them a, o, or u, or rn, c, 5, I, t), rt, r, sound, in Munster, 
as i in life, but, in Connaught, they sound as aw when followed by the 
same consonants, but as i in life before a, o, u ; and in parts of Ulster 
and Meath as am ale, in the same position. Before an aspirated t the 
vowels are short; thus, cac, cot, cut, f\]t, bet — battle, victuals, head, 
run, be. 

4„— BEKTALS AND PALATALS. 

V, ft> x), and c, c, 5, r>, r, not aspirated," are palatals, but c, 5, 
and sometimes b, when aspirated, are gutturals. No pure consonant 
but £ can be, strictly speaking, called a dental, or tooth-letter, because 
it is only in union with a vocal or vowel sound the tongue touches the 
teeth, in sounding other consonants. If the reader will begin with the 
letter e, in any language, he will find that letter, as well as t, d, are 
palatals, as the tongue fairly strikes the palate, and by no means 
touches the teeth, though it comes, for the letter c, to the very rim of 
the gum at the teeth. %*), b, p are labials ; v, b = v, semilabial and 
semidental ; also p = f . 

As no man, when treating of English Orthography, would think of 
giving the different exceptions from the general principles, such as 
g in laughter (llafter) ; slaughter, (slauter) ; ough in dough (5) ; 
ough in doughty (ou) ; though (tho) ; tough {tuff) ; lough {{logh, 
lok, luff, &c.) ; so it is not to be expected that a writer of Irish Gram- 
mar will lay down more than general principles ;. the more especially 
as such monstrous irregularities do not exist in the Irish as in English. 
There is scarcely an exception from the established rules of our tongue. 



5. MORTIFIED OR DEADENED LETTERS, COMMONLY 

CALLED " ECLIPSED.'' 

These letters, b, -p, y. , c, 5^ b^ c, f, suffer mortification ; 
rr), T), I, fi do not. These letters undergo this change 
for the sake of melody ; ri}, the nearest to the vowel 
sound, deadens b. 



b 
.b 


?5 
5J 




5 


5J 


c, 


V 


J) 


3> 


V 


J3 


», 


z 


J> 


■H* 


b 


?J 


c, 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 

tt) deadens b, as Aft n?-boftb, our table, 

as Ajt b-peACA6, our sin. 

as Afi b-frlA]6, our lord, 

as Aft 3-cof*, our foot, 

as Aft tJ-cftuATj, our hair, 

as Aft r)-bocAf, our trust, 

f* as Aft c-fUjc, our rod. 

as Aft b-coftc, our hog. 

As these letters and aspirates will be treated of in 
their proper places in Syntax, it is unnecessary to say 
more oi them here. 

S* is rendered silent by prefixing c only when it is 
followed by I, ft, \) 5 as, o, 't) 9 z-yl] &b 9 from the mountain; 
or by a vowel : not silent in verbs. 

6. — NAMES OF LETTERS. 

The names of the letters are — STJujrj, vine plant; foejc, birch 
tree; Peffc, dwarf elder ; pe&p.t), alder tree; cenje, furze ; tmjp, 
oak tree ; lu-|r, quicken tree ; Coll, hazel tree ; 5o]ar, atjy plant ; 
1flix-\t), ash tree ; Su]1, e/Gfer tf/w; 5 off, willow tree. The vowels — 
(Ja6a, a£/>era free; ]oJa, #ew> tfree; 2l]lrn, j#r tfr^e ; 6f|t ^room tree ; 
Uft, heath shrub. 

The reader will please remember that letters are called broad or 
slender according to the opening of the mouth in sounding them, but 
long or short according to the time. 

There were other letters, in addition to the above, used by the 
ancients, but, as they are now obsolete, they are not given here. 

The Druids, who were the Ollavs, or learned Doctors, having 
taught in groves, placed on each letter the name of some tree or 
shrub which possessed a medicinal property. This they did for a 
two-fold purpose — to impress the names on the pupil's mind, and to 
distinguish the most curative plant or tree from the rest. 

7. — The following is taken from a grammar by the 
late R. P. O'Brien, who does not give the roots of 
2t)it]i> 

* This letter is deadened in all cases of nouns where aspirable con- 
sonants are aspirated ; but not so in verbs ; r is never deadened or 
mortified in the genitive plural. 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 



1? 


bejt, 


birch, 


1 


fair. 


quick-beam, 


H 


f))ot), 


ash, 


V 


re Ann, 


alder, 


s 


roil, 


osier, 




IjCiAc, 

bAm, 


hawthorn, 
oak, 



c c/ne, 



coil, 



furze, 



liazle, 



3lu&fr Ijcne da 5AO]6e]l5e. 

THE EXPLANATION OF THE IRISH LETTERS. 

be]t lujr njoi? (1) Slufclrce, i.e. explained 

bAe, good, and e]6, shelter, i.e., 

shady. 
lu|6, a branch, and A]r, willing — 

of which withes are made, 
iiuf, a vessel, and on, bind : hoop 

for binding vessels. 
■pe, a bough, and ajx-at^, fruitless : 

Barren (2). 
ro, easy, and o-fl, to rear : pro- 
duced by any soil. 
CtAt, ancient, solitary. Durable 
t)JA, God, and A]ft for A&f, wor- 
ship. 
c]t), consume, melt. Used as 

fagots for consuming bodies or 

melting solids. 
col, food, support: hence coIah, 

from col, food, and ad, appetite. 
cot, fruit, and Aftc, chief, 
eo, tree, and mu]n, juice. 
506, grasp, and one, ascend. 
An, water, and 5^6, spear, 
pec, pith, and bo5, soft. 
re^, bloom, and ufU]b, 

soonest in bloom. 
riu6, cast, and e]r, back again : to 

vomit (3), 
Ajl, arms, and ejrij, valiant, 
e, pitiful, a6a6, timid, 
loe, nature, and eAb, constant : 

evergreen, 
on, or 005, anguish : sorrow. (4). 
7, low, short, and uln, cypress : 

hedder, or h ether. 

(1) 0"DoUxm, in his remarks on the Alphabet, quotes the 3wc 
cubAr, i.e., Nature of Trees; a book written by &or viua6 Kfc "Humr, 
of Kerry; beginning thus :— 5 nic enh Ar y.\\\e ijtiAdbUi6, ri^eAb 
b05A]b t)A -C0I5A15, &c; " for which," says 0"OoUvm, " he is prin- 
cipally indebted to the writings of tU^orA oruni, commonly called 
File -NurbAn, or Munster Philosopher, who died about the beginning 
of the twelfth century. 

B 2 



Quer)pc.].fceo 
C eonViv|n, 

t^^ln 5 AC. 

V pejcbo5, 
Z fejBfiAld, 


, apple-tree, 
vine 

ivy, 

reed, 

dwarf elder, 
sloe-tree, 


H TUijr, 


bore-tree elder. 


21 A]lrn, 
C eAbAb, 

1 ]6eAD, 


palm-tree, 
aspen, 
yew, ,].eOi 


on, 
u jtijn, 


bloom, 
heath, 



early : 



8 IRISH GKAMMAR. 

(2) " There were rods or small branches of j:eAttn stuck round the 
graves of the unmarried youth, and of the married who had no issue, 
with this distinction, that the bark was taken off for the unmarried/' 
— IaIU|t). 

(3) " Used as an emetic and purge ; hence generally planted near 
houses • also called -fiAc^Ar, or the village tree." — IaIIaItj. 

(4) " Women whose husbands fell in battle wore on the first month 
of their widowhood. It was also used as a remedy for the stone or 
gravel." — IaIIaio. 

(5) " Ffot), &c, to distinguish it from the virgin vine, which bears 
grapes."— -IaIIaio. 

(6) It is so called from cue, head or top, and £Ar, growth, being re- 
markable for the growth of its top shoots or stem. 

(7) " Of this tree were made bows, arrows, &c, for war and hunt- 
ing : thence Aficori, from Aft, destruction, and coy, cast, shot. Also, 
Aflt, a deer, and coy., by some called notion " &c. — LaIIa^. 

(8) Fio6neAc, contracted v|\eAC, fen-wood, or moor-shrub : — " Wo 
ijrtAfi 5AC t5*l. — 5o ^l5ATidA6tlAtcAb1)p|o6tteAciAttfwlctleibe," &c. 

" The brave, who ne'r had aim'd a dart in vain, 
On dark-brown heathy .sides were slain." 

Ossian's 51eo nA lojc. 

(9) On it was kept the Calendar for kindling fires, and offering 
sacrifice to the God, lfi OT 0- 

(10) Of this omo<3AOAi& were made reeds for wind instruments: 
hence o^Ajo, an organ. 

(11) So called from its foliage, which is abundant : it now goes by 
the name co jlleAn njojl. 

(12) A decoction of the bark or berries of this tree, occasionally 
given to female dogs of chase, prevented their periodical attachment 
to the male, hence of great utility to hunters. It is now known by 
the name of cojfiA cot). 

(13) The berries of this tree were used as an antidote for the 
incubus, or night-mare. 

8. VOWELS. 

There are five vowels — e, |, a, o, u (naturally 
short), which are given as the mouth opens, in their 
natural progressive sound, and, when not accented 
they sound as the like letters in English : the conso- 
nants *are twelve. The vowels are naturally short ; 
their artificial sound arises from their connection 
with other letters, as will shortly appear. Each Irish 
vowel has then but one natural sound. 21 (not ac- 
cented) before consonants, sounds generally as a in the 
word what (I); A=aw 9 before a silent consonant in 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 9 

monosyllables; thus, ]i&6=raw (2), (3); a before a 
single consonant=a in pat generally ; sometimes ee, 
as AnjvJ5=zft ree, and, indeed, in this case, ] might, con 
sistently with philology, and according to old MSS., 
be inserted for a in the article At), as occasionally even 
in the preposition,^ as Ann n-&]]t]nn would sound sweeter 
by writing pnn-feijtjnn, or, i* v-&]WW 9 in Ireland. 

*0'Molloy, in his Irish Grammar, written in Rome, 1677, recom- 
mends its general use. See pp. 50-51 of his work. My experience 
and ear have confirmed me in this opinion. In fact, the same rule 
obtains, to a great extent, in all learned languages. Philosophy re- 
quires the system as an elegance. In music there is seldom a sudden 
jerk of the vocal or instrumental notes from high to low, or from low 
to high. The swell or fall is gradual, just so in language; the organs 
of speech must be attuned with system, and this is done by having 
11 broad to broad," as a followed by a, o, or u. A reader, who has a 
judging ear, I have no doubt, will agree to this practice. 

218=00, in the end of words of more than one 
syllable-, a, and the other vowels, when they are the 
last letters of words of more than one syllable, are 
never silent as in English, but have a short sound, 
2l8=aA, in feA8, yes, in Connaught ; a8, &i^=eye, 
before vowels ; thus, AbApc, horn, a^a^S * face= 
eyeurc, eyee ; a before h=ou in ounce, in Iaoa]|u;. 
In Connaught, a before a double consonant=« in what, 
as bAll, jiAnn=0oZ/, ronn ; but, in Munster, a in the 
same position=ow in ounce ; thus, bAll, y.&vv=dhoull, 
roun ; eA8^ ^8 in the future tense=z. 

Dr. O'Donovan having written — "C.C\ ceAric A5U7* blAr A5 ati 
5-Cootjaccac'' — " The Connaughtman has propriety and melody" — 
I shall write in that dialect, for, in a small treatise of this nature, I 
could not introduce the several dialects, though practically acquainted 
with them. Moreover, my aim being to render easy of acquisition a 
knowledge of the Irish tongue, I think it the better plan to keep to 
one dialect, and the student can learn the others afterwards. In 

* Melody demands the general use of the system of broad vowels 
to broad, and slender to slender. This is O'Donovan's opinion. 

* A]6, oj6, |u]6, Aio, 075, U]5, 76, 75. invariably sound et in all 
places, neither vowel being accented. 



10 IRISH GRAMMAR. 

truth, there is very little difference. This I can safely say as regards 
Mun'ster, having been four years in the City of Limerick, where I met 
students from all the counties of Ireland, as I did in Tuam College ; 
I met them also in Dublin. Some necessary remarks may escape 
my notice, but the student will have little difficulty in supplying 
the omission. I should have remarked that, with respect to the short 
sound of vowels in the end of words of more than one syllable, the 
same is the general rule of all languages, with but few exceptions. I 
have already said that no final Irish vowel is silent, though, in some 
places, very obscure, as, indeed, they are in some English words ; thus, 
in Persia, Asia, fine, in which the final a and e are obscurely sounded. 
If an Irish vowel has a uniform long sound, the accent (') is useless, 
and not to be inserted. l&=ilhaw, day; le=llhay, with; Cu= 
thoo, thou ; rn], nj, mouth, not,—mee, nnhee. To this almost univer- 
sal rule, there are a very few exceptions, as ro, this ; &o, the prefix to, 
a verb ; &o, thy, which sounds as the in English=rno, my, fio, &e; 
50, co, as monosyllables. In all other places, the o is long, as in 
vote. After much consideration, I recommend this as a safe rule to 
the student, who will find it most useful, 

(I) &=ai/, or em where ; (2) e=iri pet ; (1) \—ee, 
saein me ; (2) ]=z in pit ; *&=aw, or a in fall ; (2)=a= 
pat; (3)=in what, as &t)t)=on 9 "in;" the other ex- 
ceptional sounds have been given. ( 1 ) 6=0 in vote ; 
(2)=o in pot ; (3)= suppressed sound of u, as poc=-puc, 
a male goat, just as in mother* This is the only 
instance known to me in which one vowel invades the 
sound of another, unless in connexion with some other 
letter. U=^(l) do (2) u 3 as in full. Hence the reader 
can see how simple are the sounds of the Irish vowels 
when compared with those of the English ones, which 
have each of them more than eight or nine sounds, 
as can be seen in my " Essay on Ireland," as well as 
in the preface to my " School History." 

In Irish, the same vowel is not written double, as ee 
in feel, 00 infooty but for euphony a 8 or 5 is inserted, 
as ovbeis in Greek ; in this word the delta is only eu- 
phonic. 

If the student keeps in view that the accent (') over a vowel 
makes it long, he will at once see that whenever it is placed over one 

* In t>&, " than" "nor," & requires the accent, to distinguish it 
from a in ija, *' the," which is short. 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 11 

of two vowels, which come together, it deprives them of the character 
of a diphthong, and each has its own sound, whether natural or arti- 
ficial ; the accent makes a vowel artificial, as, by nature, it occurs to 
me that all Irish vowels are short; thus, e, 7, a, o, u. A little re- 
flection will make this impression on all readers. 6, the first gentle 
opening of the mouth, next 7, then a, o, and with u the voice closes, 
by an especial position of the lips. 

SINGLE VOWELS (FINAL). 

Every single vowel, being the very last letter of a 
monosyllable, is, by position, long; thus, rne, rr)A, rt>]> 
no, cu* (/, ?/, month, or, you), are sounded, may, 
maw, mee 9 nnhd > (o as oic in know) tlioo (th being 
sounded with the tongue, protruded between the teeth, 
as Northerns pronounce though.) 

The exceptions from the above rule are, njo, bo (this 
latter word sounds nearly as the article the, as, bo 
leAbA/jfi {thy hook)=the llhouar, x° (this) 50, co, 
bo, jio, no, signs of tenses; but o in bo (two) and 
]to {very) is long. There may be a few other ex- 
ceptions. Attention to this rule obviates the neces- 
sity of placing the accent (') over final vowels in 
monosyllables, or on vowels preceding silent conso- 
nants in the like words, as ji]5=re£. This rule holds good 
only as regards single vowels, as in case of two vowels 
coming together before a silent consonant, in the in- 
stance mentioned, the former vowel is silent, and the 
latter long, thus, ojbce {night) — eegh-e; beAnnuiS 
(bless) — bannee ; but Aj8 in the beginning of a word 
i s excepted (perhaps not always), as *p&j8 (a prophet) 
= fawee ; in such position the a must be written & ; 
but the 1 requires no accent, as it is, by position, long : 

l*S 1S> A0 ^5 u 1^ °1^j u 15? A 13> a i n tne middle and at 
the end of words, sound, invariably, ee; or as e in the 
English word me= mee ; when an exception takes 
place, it will occur either by the imposition of the 
accent, as f&]8, or from the fact that another vowel im- 
mediately follows the aspirated or mutable consonant ; 



12 IRISH GRAMMAR. 

thus, ASAjtc a horn — eye-ark \ o^^b-ee ; but the 
accent is requisite over o, which makes it sound as 
o in vote. 

Examples: — ji]5, 0|8ce, fujSe, jfiA^, rr)ApcA]5 ; 
beAtji)U]5 night, seat, of love, horsmans, or horse- 
men, bless thou. The sounds of the words are= 
tt/iree, ree, ee-h-e, see-e ; mark-ee ; hann-ee. 21 before 
t, 3 (not being a part of a diphthong)=a in what! before 
8 in words of more than one syllable — oo in loose, but I 
think, in Munster, oo in look. Single vowels before t 
aspirated are generally short ; thus, b]c, cac, coc, ]*fiuc 
{existence, battle, feed, stream)=bl, kah, kbk, kith, 

9. — -DIPHTHONGS. 

The diphthongs are — ej, eA, eu, -\o, ju, A], u], ua, 
Ae, A|, ao, oe, O], ]u, au, oe — the last two are used in 
old manuscripts. In regard to these the reader will be 
guided by observing the sounds of the vowels. Hence, 
in reading Irish, he will have to watch the accented 
vowel in each diphthong — thus, e^, in f>e]n, self=fayn 
e] unaccented=ez in heifer, in which i is silent ; 6= 
o in vote, and i in pit, as cojft ; 0]=i in pill, as in 
co|l=*qll, in Connaught, cell ; o\ has two other 
sounds, which cannot be easily given in writing, as 
co]|t, a crime, co]ll, a wood, 30]b, steaL Some 
authors make it— u in full, but that is npt exactly so. 
The natural speaker of Irish will agree with me — 
co]i(i=cuir, or, better, qu in the French qui ; co]ll= 
kull. For the sake of consistency, I prefer the uni- 
form sound i, as in guilt. A keenly-judging ear will 
understand that such is^ very nearly the sound. 

It is here to be remarked that any difficulty of this 
kind is only in appearance, when we consider the real 
difficulties of distinguishing the English sounds. If 
children were not in the habit of speaking and of hear- 

* Remember that c, &, I, sound with " h" after them. ' 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 13 

ing others speak English, my experience enables me 
to state, confidently, that the attainment of a thorough 
modulation of the various combinations of the English 
characters would be an impossibility. — (See my Essay, 
and Preface to this work on the subject.) 

In a small treatise, as this Grammar must be, I 
cannot enter on dissertations ; I can afford space only 
for general rules. It may be my happiness to give 
what might deserve the name of a practical Grammar. 
0]=ee, as in co\6c&=cheeghe, ever ; but here o] 
being=e?£, by position, requires no accent ; u&=oo a, 
as in cu&K)=cooun, haven. There is one exception to 
this in Connaught, though not in Munster — pr>uAr>= 
smeein, think; here u&=eei ; u]=(l) oo in goose, 
and i in fit, as in cu]y =coozsh, cause ; (2) u]=ee, as in 
3tr|8e. It is not a mistake to say that irj sounds as nee, 
as it is the vowel " u" before \ that gives the peculiar 
sound; thus, bu]6e=bwee, yellow ; in this word it is 
the closing and the opening of the lips that give the 
seeming sound of to : u] before an aspirated 8 or 5 re- 
quires no accent, as in that position its uniform sound, 
without exception, is ee. (3) \l]=i infill, as in cu]le= 
thill e. W\, O], A] (perhaps others), before 8 or 5 are 
invariably sounded ee, as in 3]ia8u] 3, c|io]8e, 5fiA^8, 
W5=grawee, cree ; gree, love, heart, by, king. I 
have observed that it is the slender vowels, e, i 
of the diphthong that is influenced, and that the broad 
one is quiescent, as in $Uvr)U]3ue6|jt= Slawneehore, 
Saviour. Ju=you, as ^]u=Jyou or few; -]u=oo in 
good, or u in bud; \o=-ee, as in y\ox)=feeun, wine ; 
also= short i s and the compressed sound of u, as io 
in nation, -ja generally=££, as in seen, except a few 
words, as rtr|AT), y]i]^\)—meean,- desire, bridle; &|AbAl= 
dheeul, in Munster;* ou=ayu, asj roeuji; this diph- 

* " Dhowil" in Connaught. 



14 IRISH GRAMMAR. 

thong, being always long, wants no accent ; eo= 
oa in foal, also=^ in just, as beoc=dhiiffh, drink. 
$)eoc, eocA]]t, feo.c, weoc (rjeAc), eoc (eAc), and 
perhaps one or two other words, are the only words in 
which the eo is short. Therefore, the learner requires no 
accent for his guidance in sounding eo, which, except 
in the words given, he may take for granted, is always 
long. Bj=#j/, and short i, as in fP^IT 1 ? and=^ short, 
as e in pet ; thus, nje]c=mec, sons ; §&=ay. or ea in 
hear, as -peAfi grass ; (2) e&=a 9 or ea in heart, as 
Ye&y=shas 9 stand ; (3) e&=a in ask, as 5eA]t|t, short. 
peA/frfi, and words derived from them, as ^e^ji\it^ 9 
but 3 eA l t T l ^^ = 5' arrc? ^ tne a being as a in pat is 
not as « in fr&-j8 — but as a in in " asked." It 
would be wrong to place the accent (') over a, as 
then they would sound gawr, fawr, not gddr, fdar. 
Hence it clearly follows that in such a place an accent 
is not requisite, Though I have written so much on 
the diphthongs, the student will see that the rules for 
the vowels were a sufficient guide to teach the pro- 
nunciation of the former. 

A diphthong is the blending of two vowel sounds in one, as bread, 
fear ; which sound bred, fere, the e in bread sounding as e in lei, and 
the e in fear, as e in the English word she. 

Wherever the vowels in one syllable are sounded, whether dis- 
tinctly or obscurely, they are a diphthong. This is the system in 
the best Latin Grammars. 

The following are, in truth, the Irish diphthongs : — ef=e in bet ; 
asberfi; eA with or without the accent, is a diphthong; with the 
accent, as ^eAtttt (better)=a in ask, being the fourth sound of a in 
English ; without the accent, as £eA|t ; bere eA=a in pan; eA has a 
Jong sonnd before a silent consonant, as in beA^=dhaa. It might be 
set down thus, as in Latin, so in Irish, a vowel before two conso- 
nants is long. This being understood, the accentis not only unnecessary, 
but bad, as it misleads the student : for instance, he is apt to sound 
f eAtifi, favor, because he is told this Zx=aw. An ignorance of this 
rule gave rise to the corrupt pronunciation of these words ceArjn, 
head ; ball, spot, 8fc, which are corruptly sounded Mown, bout, in- 
stead of Man, baal, (the fonrth sound of a). 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 15 

€m=a in ale, as ^euft (grass) =fare : rrjeuft (a 
Jinffer)=m?LYe. This diphthong is always long : p, 
long ; \\x, always long, as in p]u; in this word, ]u=ew 
in pew — and the word itself, just as few ; Ae, A], 
ao, au ; as fiAe, moon; a^ttt^I, angel; jtAorj, was; 
pronounced a/^7 (rc^ like ng in song), ray, rayn, aw. 

Tn each of these words, the letters Ae, Aj, ao, au, which have each, 
naturally, as the word " vowel" or " voice" implies, a separate^ distinct 
sound, have butjone blended sound. It is true the sounds of Ae, ao, au, 
are long, just as a in ale, a in all {awl), yet not bordering, in the slightest 
degree, on two distinct sounds — hence they are clearly diphthongs. 

|a is seldom a diphthong, as it generally sounds as eea, £|Ac 
(Aib\.)=feeagh ; ri]AbAc (swarthy), p]AbA5 (lark)=reeavagh, reeavay 
1A in bjAbAjf (devil) has a peculiar sound, being either dhowl, as in 
Connaught, or dheeut, as in Minister. 

0], unaccented (£), is a diphthong, as ojleAt) 
(island)=^ilihawn ; zo]l (will)=thillh 9 iq,* unaccented, 
is a diphthong, as in Stqrr? (respect) =sim, 

1 0. TRIPHTHONGS,")* 

There are five triphthongs, eoj, ^A|, ]tq, ua}, ao(, 
(and oe^ of the ancients) ; aoj is thought to be a modern 
one. These are sounded very nearly as the diph- 
thongs, having only the additional sound of a short i 9 
wdiich they acquire in the declension of nouns. eo]= 
eo in Keogh, and i in pit, as ceo]\=Ke-o-il ; ^==ee, 
and short £ — Bn]A]n, (Brian s) &o]=ee ; -\\x\ long?/ and 
short i; u^=oo, short a and short i, but it may be that 
one of the latter might be found long by locality. The 
above I give according to usage. 

* These miscalled triphthongs are mostly the result of the case- 
form of nouns, and follow the sounds of vowels and diphthongs, 
thus, eo|, in ceo]l (of music). In this word each vowel has its 
own natural short sound, e, 6, j, Ke-o-tL There is no real monstro- 
sity in Irish as in English diphthongs; thus, in English, eau in 
beauty=u, but in beau (a fine dressed man), eau=ow ; also, ieu in 
lieu (instead of) ieu=u, whilst ieu=ev in lieutenant=levtenant . 

t The i in ]u, though in some words, apparently silent, has, yet, a 
compressed sound. 

C 



16 IRISH GRAMMAR. 
1 1. CONSONANTS. 

The powers of the consonants, when not aspirated 
nor eclipsed (silent would be a better word), are 
the same as these in English, except b, rj, c, I, 
which are pronounced as if h followed ; thus, bA, tja, 
ca {if, the, is, or are)=dhaw, nnhaw, thaw ; y, before 
or after e, |, (except ]\) 9 sounds as sh — thus, \h T e== 
shee, shay, her, she, him, he ; xx), t>, ft, are never 
eclipsed, but rn, as occasion requires, is aspirated ; f 
before a, o, u, is the same as in sat, sot; sut in Sutton. 
The general sound of an Irish I is liquid, the tongue 
placed softly between the teeth, as the letter / in Wil- 
liam (Ihuym), but it is=/ in bile, between slender 
vowels, as rr>]le, h]\e=meel-e, beel-e ; in. the end, 
or middle of words, it is=Z in real, but 5, c, are 
never soft, as in English ; they sound invariably as 
heard in got, cat.* In this respect they have trfe ad- 
vantage of the English g, c, which are sometimes 
sounded as if written dj, s. TI5 is said to present some 
difficulty of pronunciation, but there is none ; they 
sound as v in i)\=nnhee, the tongue being protruded, 
and pressed against the upper teeth, fiAC^Ab a i>3Afi 
bo8 Alc6|]t, 6 rno Sl^V^]'S^O]jt=roghad annhor, dod 
althoir. o mo hlawnheeoir — (/ will go near [/ will ap- 
proach^ Thy altar, O my Saviour). Some writers say 
that t>5 sounds ng in long or longing. Whoever 
speaks the language naturally, will support my view. 
T) is only used as the sign of aspiration, or to prevent 



* It is wrong to spell " Celt" " Kelt," though it sounds such. 
Every English word beginning or ending with "c," if borrowed 
from the Irish language, must be "c," not "k," though pronounced 
"k." It is a source of deep regret that parties who write, to in- 
struct the public, don't learn, at least, a little of our venerable 
tongue, to enable them to guard against reprehensible errors. 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 1 7 

the hiatus, just as the Greeks used the Digamma, 
which is still preserved, and properly, by Heyne in his 
Homer; it imparts a grace to the reading of that poet's 
verses ; I have always made pupils use it. As in 
Greek, so in Irish, n is inserted to prevent the hiatus, 
ie-t) a cl&]]tfa*xc (with his harp)) in which clause the;* 
is simply euphonic. I am every day being confirmed in 
my opinion that the Pelasgic, Iranian, or Irish dialect, 
was the ground- work of Greek. 

A dot over ?t ft, as found in old MSS., is a 
sign that a stress is to be placed on them. The same 
stress is placed on them in some English words, for in- 
stance, r is sounded with a stress in far, but not in fir, 
a tree. As to the broad and slender and compressed 
sounds of Irish consonants, when the reader is in- 
formed, that, in that respect, they have nothing 
peculiar, he will require no further rule^ about them. 
To write more on them would be a waste of time. 
The only consonants (except in old MSS.) that are 
doubled at the end of words or syllables, are r), I, ft, 
unless in the middle of compound words. However, 
the reader will occasionally meet zz 9 cc for b, 3, as 
P&cqt<vjc 6cc=P&bjtAi i c euj, " Patrick died." 

12. — ASPIRATIONS. 

2t), b, when written with the dot, or followed by \), 
as 117, b, orr^bj b})=w before or after a, o, u, but= 
v before e, ], as at) rbAnc, an want h (the defect), or 
the want ; at) b&jtb = #ra wardh, of the bard (whence 
the patronymic Ward) ; at) rij^an vee, the month ; 
at) b]X)x)=an vinn, the promontory, or the pitch of the 
voice, the melody, In Munster, ri), h=v always, and 
in all positions ; loot), or \&xv\)=dlhawv, in Connaught, 
but llhawiv, in Munster. In England so different are 
the dialects of the spoken language, that, some persons 



18 IRISH GRAMMAR. 

cannot understand each other. Not so in Ireland, 
its Irish-speaking population, in each province, is 
perfectly intelligible to each other. 

The cause of the aspirations, or artificial sounds of 
rt), b, is the convenient use of the organs of speech, and 
such is also the cause of the rule " brotfrd to broad — 
slender to slender." The judicious intoning of 
letters (which are speaking notes) requires that a broad 
sound succeeds a broad one, and a slender comes gene- 
rally after a slender ; this is very plain. The "musical 
ear will, at once, understand and appreciate the rule. 

A consonant is not eclipsed or aspirated when it is 
the first letter of a clause, unless in the vocative case, 
and then it is not, strictly speaking, the first letter, as 
a is understood. SIac fi^lleACi (=sloth sillaghee), rod 
willow she , it is a willow rod ; \ is never aspirated before 
b, c, b, 5, rr>, pj c, only before ft, I, e, i, a, o, u. The 
same cause makes c, when written c or cb, to sound as 
gh in German, or as gh in lough, the pronunciation be- 
ing guttural as the Greek x> which, to get its proper - 
sound, must have the guttural German sound gh; slender 
c=chinchee. To produce the former sound the tongue 
strikes the roof of the palate with a rough breathing 
from the throat, whereas, for the latter, the tongue goes 
softly forward to the lower teeth with a gentle breath- 
ing. 

<t), 5, when dotted, or written with f>, and when 
they are essential letters of any word, have the sound 
of gh (guttural) before a, o, u, in the beginning of 
words, but=y before e, 1 ; they are silent at the end of 
words, b]o&=beeugh, vernacularly in Connaught. <D, 
3, are occasionally euphonic in the middle of words, 
in which place they have no sound, not even of ], 
as some would assert. They only influence the sounds 
of the vowels with which they coalesce — as A5A|6= 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 19 

eyee. <t), 3, between unaccented vowels, have the 
invariable sound eye, except e^X^^v^ollheeinn in 
Connaught, also clojbeArf) (a sword) =Klhove or klhive, 
ao\6e^rx) (a sword) sounds in Mayo hiovva or klivva, 
in which word 6=v and attj silent ; 2i8Arb, Adam=awv ; 
but it must be remarked that 218att) is compounded of 
a6 and Arb. This being so, the reader is reminded of a 
former rule, which says that <v8 (with the dot or li)=aic 
(without exception), in monosyllables ; and compound 
words are,. subjects of the same rule as simples ; An? 
final=06>, generally, but sometimes=a; as, therefore, 
&n)=oo, 216att) may be pronounced awoo ; and as rb, b, 
are played on the lips with only a shade of difference, 
hence 9l6&w=a7vv or awiv — See rules for eclipses and 
aspirations in Syntax. Experience may point out a few 
other exceptions ; 5 is sometimes sounded (as well as I 
can remembei) gh, at the end of words and syllables, in 
parts of Connaught, as in I&5&6 =Wiaghoo=melting ; p or 
pb always silent, and never aspirated (and seldom to be 
seen at all) at the end of a word. P or y>}j=f ; in this 
respect it resembles cp in Greek; f , t =b ; f never 
aspirated at the end of a word ; t at the end of words 
has something of a grave sound, b]i&t=betraying ; in 
this word the sound of t resembles that of slender c.* 

Compound words follow the rules of the simples ; 
thus, -\iO]ir)-i[\&6=rw-?*aw (hasty saying), or, saying 
before the time. The mode of pronouncing a8, ex\6, 
was given already. 

The Classification of Consonants into labial 
dentals, palatals, is not requisite in a work of this 
character, as it is presumed that the readers know 
them already. I cannot, at the same time, omit draw- 
ing attention to the fact, that rn, b, p, j:, are sounded 
successively by the lips ; thus, rx), by the simple closing 

* In the declension of nouns, r is generally eclipsed where oth<-r 
cjnsonants are aspirated. C 2 



20 IRISH GRAMMAR. 

of the lips ; b, by dropping the upper lip a little in 
from the front, and with a trifling pressure ; p, by 
drawing in the upper lip a little more, and giving a 
stronger pressure ; and -p is sounded by placing the 
upper teeth on the lower lip ; hence it is that rn, being 
nearer to the vowel sound, eclipses b, b, being next 
nearer to a vowel sound, eclipses p, and f>, again, 
having more of the vocal sound than -p, deadens or does 
away with the sound of p. How observant of musical 
sounds were the framers of the Irish language. This 
fact in itself attests their refined taste, and their love 
of whatever w 7 as graceful. 



ETYMOLOGY 

Is a treatise on the several classes of words, or parts of 
speech. There are nine classes, viz., Article, Substan- 
tive, or Noun, Adnoun, or Adjective, Pronoun, Verb, 
Adverb,* Conjunction, Preposition, and Interjection. 

13. ARTICLE* 

There is only one article, At), or a, the, w T hich is both 
masculine and feminine, but nA is the genitive feminine, 
and is the plural of both genders in all cases — as at) CI03, 
the bell ; AtjcluAf the ear ; CI03, a bell, cluAp, an ear ; 
here the nouns cloj, cluAp, are turned into English, with 
the indefinite article «. It is so in Latin, campana, a 
bell, auris, an ear. From this it is evident that in this 

* Strictly speaking, there is no adverb in Irish the same as in other 
languages ; for, what is called the adverb is only a preposition with an 
adjective, as, 50 rocAiti, 30 h-eAf5A, slowly, quickly, or, le focA|tie^cc, 
te tj-eAt5^ct, the English of which is as before. The true translation 
of the words i/s with easy, with quick — with easiness, with quickness. 
It is so in French — avec facile, avec rupide ; or, avec facilite, avec 
rapidite ; also, in Latin — cum tarditate, cum velocitate — slowly, 
quickly, or, with slowness, with quickness. I write these words to show 
that the same thing obtains in other languages, but not to the same 
extent, the Irish having no adverb such as in them. 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 21 

respect there is nothing peculiar in Irish. The same 
may be ^said of Greek, xporakov a bell, ovs, an ear, as 
also of Hindoostanee. This is the place to guard the stu- 
dent against a great barbarism that has crept into the 
printing of the language, Because the manuscripts 
may have had two words joined (as is the case with 
persons who write I promise, the man of God, without 
raising the pen), writers, for want of thought, printed 
the article An, and prepositions, incorporated with the 
nouns. This must be carefully avoided, there being 
no precedent for it in any language, except in Italian, 
and this rarely, where we meet col la for con la, &c. 

2ln before a vowel, a before a consonant is some- 
times used the same as in English. This is an 
improvement. All letters that can safely be removed 
should be left out of every orthography ; but the 
student must follow pure old authors on this point ; 
a btxjne is not as good as At) bivp;>e, though intelligible. 

The article is indeclinable except that it makes r)A 
for the genitive before a noun of the feminine gender, 
as well as before all plural nouns of both genders. 
The dative case is a conventional name for nouns, 
before which bo is placed, as bo 'n rt)-btS¥>&=ddhoun- 
rnawrd, to the poet. A manliest corruption has been 
continued by some writers. ^They have used bo to 
express to and of, whereas bo SeAir;Af=<iA<3 liaymus, to 
James ; be SeAn><v|f=£Ae or dhe hay mush, of or from 
James ; bo 'n rr,-b4\]le=dhnnn mollhe, to the town. 
<De 9 y rr>-b &-\le=d he nn, or then (just as the English 
word then), of the town, I find in the Dirge (stanza 
101), "<t)ej|teA8 bo 'n bjojjtivjf, remnant of the good old 
stock," the word bo is clearly a corruption, as it signifies 
to, whereas the idea to be conveyed is of However, 
this error is easily accounted for. In such places the 
preposition is seldom used unless the idea from or off 



22 IRISH GRAMMAR. 

is intended to be conveyed. The student will, there- 
fore, be sure to write be 'n, not bo 't> when of the, 
from the, from off the, is the meaning. 

The vocative case (or case of address) has no article, 
but the initial consonant of that case in both genders 
is invariably aspirated, as a bACc&|i), O poor person, 
a bocc&r)A, O poor persons. 

In some instances the article is omitted, "rnujnqft uj 
4)011)1)^11, &c, the people of O Donne 11" in which Ai), 
the, is suppressed, and to insert it would be corrupt. It 
is so in Latin, milites Scipionis, the soldiers of Scipio, in 
which there is no article, but, using the Saxon genitive 
case, we have the true form, O' DonneW s people, Scipio' s 
soldiers. 'Pjaota B|fteAT)i), the militia of Eire, is the 
common expression, but t?a "fj^vv^ ojjxeAiK), the 
militia of Eire, or Eire s militia, the emphatic form. 
Latin — Hiberni milites. In this form there is no 
article, nor would pure Latin admit of it. \pios o-TpaTLoo- 
rat, the soldiers or militia of Eire, or Eire's soldiery. 
If I would use the article hi, its English version would 
be these, not the. In this respect there is a perfect 
identity in these languages. 

) is often found in authors instead of ah, the, or is 
sometimes <\. So O'Halloran, in regard to j or ft), 
says it is a sweeter form before |. ), the, is of frequent 
use ; so would a be an improvement. 

The rules for aspirations and eclipses, incidental to 
nouns by reason of the article, as well as these belong- 
ing to verbs, will be given in their proper place in 
Syntax. Let me here write, that the initial consonant 
of the first word of a sentence — if the word be a noun 
or an adjective — is never aspirated or eclipsed, unless 
the vocative, case, which is always aspirated, as stated 
already ; also the initial letter of the imperfect, perfect, 
and conditional tense, in the active voice, and the 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 23 

conditional passive. From this standard there will be 
found some variations in old manuscripts and old 
printing. However, in so short a Grammar, I can 
give but general rules. A little^ practice will do the 
rest for a student. 

N.B. — All plural cases (the vocative excepted) of nouns, beginning 
with a vowel, require \) prefixed, but the genitive plural, instead of b> 
takes n. 

14 GENDER.* 

Gender is a name used to mark the sexes.f 
The Irish genders are two^ masculine and feminine, 
as -peAft, man ; beAr), woman ; such is the case in French. 

15. DECLENSIONS OF NOUNS, 

Declension of a noun is its variation. For con- 
venience, I will say, that there are five declensions, 
or modes of varying a noun. Be they more or less, 



* In Irish all nouns whether animate or inanimate are either mas- 
culine or feminine, there being no name to mark inanimate things, 
as there is in Greek and Latin. In these languages things without 
life are marked with a masculine or feminine article, as " liber" a book, 
u tuba," a trumpet, " Ille est liber ;" he is a book ; M ilia est tuba," she is 
a trumpet : and what is still stranger, the neuter sign is used in reference 
to several nouns of both genders in Greek and Latin. One thing worthy 
of remark by the students of Irish is, that the Latin for " a boy," is 
" puer" without any article, just as in Irish. In Latin and Greek 
there are three articles : viz. masculine, feminine, and neuter. In 
Irish there is only one article, "tja" is the genitive form, and ija 
is the form for all cases and both genders in the plural : ad or a the 
article must be carefully distinguished from Ann or a, the preposition. 
The article sounds " an," the preposition sounds " on." 

t How to know the gender of Irish nouns. — When a noun or pro- 
noun is followed, (though not immediately) by f| or ] it is feminine, 
but when followed by re or e, it is masculine. Whenever tja {of the) 
precedes a singular number, the student may be sure that the noun 
is feminine. It is an infallible rule for ascertaining the gender at 
sight, a thing that cannot be said of any other language. To distin- 
guish the gender of nouns in French, Greek and Latin, requires much 
industry and research on the part of the student. 



24 IRISH GRAMMAR. 

I have not space to expend on such a controversy. 
The termination of the genitive case determines, to a 
great extent, the declension of a noun, but the gender 
has its influence. Those, who hold, that there are only 
two declensions, say, that the gender determines the 
declension ; this makes all masculine nouns belong to 
the first declension, and all feminines belong to the 
second declension. 

16. — FIRST DECLENSION. 

This declension forms the genitive by attenuation— 
that is, by inserting ] before the final consonant, or con- 
sonants, and all the nouns belonging to it are masculine ; 
the vocative singular is like the genitive, but the initial 
consonant, if aspirable, is aspirated; just as in Latin: 
its nominative plural is the same form as the genitive 
singular, but the genitive plural, in Irish, is the same as 
the nominative singular. The dative plural of this de- 
clension is formed by adding <<vjb (generally sounded iv) 
to the genitive plural, as bocc&n<v|b * pronounced 
baghtkawniv. The vocative plural is, mostly, formed by 
adding <v to the genitive plural. 
QaIIzxij^ dhollawn, a blind man, masculine gender.f 



* When a broad and slender vowel precede an aspirated consonant , 
the slender one influences the consonant, and Ajb always sounds iv, 
a being silent. In this place A] is indeed a diphthong, as two letters 
which, under other circumstances, would have two sounds, have here 
only one sound — that of short ] ; but in tUUAjn, of a blind person, in 
which 'A]=aw-i. Here a|, as having two independent sounds, ought 
not to be called a diphthong. By laying down explicit rules on these 
things, the seeming difficulties (and they are only seeming) will dis- 
appear. 

t I have heard good Irish preachers in Connaught use A peAfiAlb. 
O men, as the address ; instead of A f jfi. Something of the same 
kind occurs in Greek. 



SINGULAR. 


PLURAL. 


Nom. SaUatj 


tVAll&]n 


Gen. t)AlUv|tj 


frAlfAn 


Dat. tUll&n 


t?All^r)A]b 


Ace. t>AllATJ 


tUllAm 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 25 

SINGULAR. PLURAL. 

N. At) tUlUxr) T)<X t^AllAm 

G. At) t)AlU\|TJ HA n-tUlUVT) 

D. &0 7 T) TJ-tUll&T) &0 T)A t)All&nA|b 

A. At) (DAllAT) T)A t)AllA]T) 

VOC. £5All*Vfn A ^AllAHA V. A t)AllA]T) A bAll&UA 

Abl. t)AllAT> t)AllAT)A]b* A. 6'lJ TJ-t5AllAT) 6 T}A t)AllAT)A|bf 

It might be truly said that this declension has only two cases in 
the singular number, whereas the nominative, dative, accusative, and ab- 
lative are alike, and that the plural has but four cases, the nominative 
and accusative being alike, and the dative and ablative. Nouns of this de- 
clension, ending in Ac have Ai5=ee in the genitive singular, and the 
nominative plural is A^=ee=ee orAcA—ugha, as mA-ftcA^ ; genitive — 
TnATtcA]J ; plural — mArvcA^Qe, orrnArtcAcA, its dative plural ends ]b— 
iv, not A]b. 

Please keep in view the rule I laid down when writing of vowels, 
viz., that single final vowels in monosyllables, being almost invariably 
long, are not to be accented. 

N.B. — The dative and ablative singular, and genitive plural are the 
only cases subject to the mortification or deadening of letters; but in 
nouns whose first letter is r, when followed by I, n, ji, or a vowel, the 
nominative, dative, accusative, and ablative singular (but not the geni- 
tive-plural) are subject to the rule, always provided the article goes 
before the noun, not otherwise 



* Oi)A t)All&T)A]b, from the blind; le p,A t5AllArjA]b, with the 
blind; that is, by means of the blind ; lejr t)A t>AllAnA|b, with the 
blind ; that is, attended by the blind. " t)o 605 An cAbvt)AO]\ ax) cAcAjfi 
o tja r)-rnnucA-|b le x)a iA^\A]v^A]b rnA-|Ue le]r (or, rbjr) jreApA-jb be 
'rj cjnerinn" — The general tools the city from the Indians with (that is, 
by the agency of) the Saxons, together with men of the country itself." 
Here the reader will have observed that o, from ; le, with (deno- 
ting agency, or the manner), lefr, with (accompaniment), are signs of 
the ablative case, le also implies the instrument, thus, &o rritin r] e le- 
n a rornplA, she taught him by her example. Here the n being only 
euphonic to prevent the hiatus of e, a ought not to be joined, 
unless with a hyphen, nor prefixed to A, as, if it were, the student 
would suppose it was an article. 

t 21 rornplA, her example ; a fornplA, his example ; A rornplA, their 
example. The r is not mortified in the genitive plural as other 
letters are ; the only difference between the A rornplA, her example, 
and the plural form is that A, her, sounds very short, whilst a plural is 
long. 



26 IRISH GRAMMAR. 

By observing the word declined above, it will be 
seen that the gen. and vocat. singular only of this de- 
clension are aspirated, but when the article is prefixed, 
the- dative and ablative singular, and the genitive 
plural have the initial or first consonant deadened or 
eclipsed. This is the invariable rule, except as regards 
t*, which is eclipsed — not aspirated in the genitive sin- 
gular, as a c-|*l6]be (of the mountain)— a thlayv-e. 
Though feminine nouns do not belong to this declen- 
sion, it may not be out of place to say here, lest I 
might again forget it, that x surfers neither aspiration 
nor eclipse in feminine nouns, as r)A |4<v|ce (of the rod) = 
na sloth-%) \ * s tne on ^J eclipsable letter that is not 
eclipsed in the genitive plural, as r)A ftejbce, not \)& 
c-|*l^bce ; neither is it eclipsed in the singular cases, 
unless when followed by the I, r>, or |t, or by a, vowel ; 
thus, at) c-\ ifiut&w, (of a rivulet) =an thruffawn ; ah 
z~x nuAb (of the visage)=an thnuhooa ; ah c-f lAbfiA (of 
the chain.)=an thlowrra. As in every language, so in 
ours, there are a few exceptions from these general 
rules, but it is better not to burthen the memory of the 
strident with them at first, as experience will point 
them out. 

'G. Some authors think that this letter requires 
no eclipse, but that is a radical mistake, as, for eu- 
phony sake, it must be deadened by b, where such can 
be done, as in the dative and ablative singular and 
genitive plural, also, after the possessive pronouns. 
These authors urge that c^AftrjA being the name of 
the Lord, ought to suffer no change. This is non- 
sense, for it is applied to any lord, and it is varied in 
Greek and Latin. 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 27 

17. — THE SECOND DECLENSION* 

Comprises, almost, all the feminine nouns of the lan- 
guage ; and, rarely (if at all), a masculine noun. The 
genitive singular is generally formed by adding e to the 
nominative (in old manuscripts, |, or ^u sometimes). It 
has only two cases in the singular, as cii]f, geni- 
tive, cu|(*e; "p^fc, genitive, -pe^x-e; when at) is 
prefixed, the initial consonant is aspirated, as at) 
pe^jx (theworm)=an fayssth. In some words, ] (being 
often=ee) is set before the final consonants, so that in 
such case there is a double attenuation ; thus, at) 
ceApc, genitive ha cei-pce,f of the hen ; but, An caiI- 
ieAC, genitive t)a CAjll^e, dative CAilljj (=ee always) ; 
plural nominative t)a cA]lleACAi8, genitive t)a 
5-cA]lleAC, dative, bo t)a cAilleACA]b, ablative 
6 t)a cAilleACAib. Remember that the rule*, is — 
there are only two cases in the singular, and three in the 
plural. There are a few exceptions. Nearly all nouns 
in 63 are diminutives and feminine, and are of this 
declension — " Usus te plura docebif — " practice will 
teach the rest.' 1 

18 THE THIRD DECLENSION 

Has a broad increase (generally a) in the geni- 
tive, as rpeAf ; genitive, cpeAf a, and comprises 
nouns of both genders. To it belong all abstract 
nouns in acc, which are always feminine, and de- 
rivative abstract nouns in eAf, which are invaria- 
bly masculine. These classes of words have no plural 
number ; the same may be said of them in all lan- 
guages. This declension comprises also many names 

* As " case" is only the state of a noun, the second declension has 
but two cases in the singular, and three in the plural, though, for the 
sake of system, six are given. 

t e short at the end of words of more than one syllable and is never 
silent. 

D 



28 IRISH GRAMMAR* 

of men — too numerous to be mentioned— as 2t)tijtc<\8 5 
&c, the genitive of which is formed by adding a, as 
2io8j genitive Ao8A=ee-a (Hugh); and most nouns end- 
ing in ucc, ac, ul, uf, uc, oc, verbal nouns in Aft, 
Arb<vjr>, acc; ]0, I, a8, ca8, uja8 (oo-oo) ; nouns in 
o^fi, e6]ji, ||i.* Though all the cases, given in the first 
declension, may be applied, yet it has but two changes 
in the singular, viz., the nominative and genitive, as 
cpeAf, genitive cjteAf* a ; and three in the plural, 
viz., nominative c]teAf A^same as genitive singular; geni- 
tive qteAf ; dative cpeA|*A]b. Remember the genitive 
plural always suffers eclipse, except the genitive of 
such nouns as begin with f, which is never eclipsed; 
X is never aspirated in the middle nor end of any word. 
As it is not aspirated before b, c, b, 5, rn, -p, c, so it is 
not deadened before the same letters. As the nominative 
plural is the same form as the genitive {singular, it fol- 
lows that that case ends in a or e short — " broad to 
broad, and slender to slender" — and the dative and 
ablative plural, A]b, or -|b. 

* The student might be inclined to say, that to arrange so many- 
classes of nouns under one declension is useless, but he has to recol- 
lect that it is the genitive case which determines the declension. This 
is exactly so in Latin, and though learned and regular may be the 
structure of Latin, yet greater variations are found in its third de- 
clension than in the Irish. Thus, rex, genitive regis (in which oc is ex- 
changed ioxg, "is" being the characteristic of the declension), lex, geni- 
tive legis; Thrax, genitive Thracis, c is substituted for x ; opus, opuntis f 
a city; 6s,ossis; os, oris; lac,lactis; salus,salutis, pecus, pecoris, pecu~ 
Ms ; lepus, leporis ; thus, thuris ; bos, bovis, tmpos, impolis ; arbos, as- 
boris ; Dido, genitive Didionis, or Didus ; Troas, Troados, or Troadis 
caput, capitis ; Amarilhs, genitive Amarillidis y or Amarillido ; miles, 
militis ; teres, teretis, in miles the genitive ends itis ; whereas, teres, 
has genitive etis ; yet, hceres makes hceredis, and many others. The 
quantity of time of this case belongs, of course, to prosody, in 
every language. The variations of the Latin third declension are 
given to let the student of Irish understand that the third declension 
of onr language is much easier than .that of Latin. In Latin, it is 
enough to know that the genitive ends in is, and in Irish in a. 



XftlSH GRAMMAR. 29 

19. THE FOURTH DECLENSION 

Has nouns of either gender, ending in vowels. Its 
characteristic is, that all the cases of the singular 
are alike. The nominative plural is generally formed 
by adding ]6e or A/|8e (=ee*e short) to the nomi- 
native singular. The old authors have a6a, e8A= 
d-d. 

pAjtCA, a beetle, or mallet, masculine gender— 





SINGULAR. 


PLURAL. 


Nom. 


AT) \lAt\CA 


iia £AficA]8e, or tA\\c,Ai>A 


Gen. 


AT) y:A\\CA 


t)<\ b-t;A|xcA6 


Dat. 


SO 'l) b-pAficA 


&o tia t;AtXGAA-j6-|b, or £AttcA-|dAib 


Ace. 


AT)^ ^AttCA 


IJA VAtXCAlbe, Or ^AftCAOA 


Voc. 


a ¥a\\c<\ 


A "pAixcAj&e, or "pA-fXCAbA 


Abl. 


6, f T) b-fAttCA 


6 t)A t:A|tCAi&]b, or t:AttcA]6A|b 



The student will have observed t:AtacA is the same in all the cases 
in the singular, and, therefore, it may be said that all nouns in the 
singular number of the fourth declension are indeclinable. The nomi- 
native, accusative, and vocative plural are alike, as indeed they are in all 
declensions, as well as the dative and ablative of the same number ; A]6e 
=ee e, e being short; A6&=oo~a, a being short, as a in hat. All per- 
sonal nouns in ]6e, Ajtte are of this declension, and make, the latter the 
nominative plural in A6A,or i6e, the former by inserting t before e final, 
as r:AlcA]rie =follcurre ; plural t;AlcA]ttce, te=he. Nouns of this 
declension in aoj (—ee) take ce to make the noun plural, as singular 
fclAoi, {a lack of hair)—dhlee ; plural blAote. Some nouns take c for 
the plural, as bAjlce, in Connaught ; bAjlce AcA]t=lollthughee i but /is 
liquid as the I in Ham of William (llhyum) ; bui^e- makes &AO-|ne, 
bAO|fi]b or Aib=2v; A]crie, plural AiteAticA, ,.A-|6eAnr:A-|b. I am 
satisfied that time will improve and simplify the spelling of such 
words, as it has done in Latin, French, Greek, English ; and that 
oaIca, actia, acaticA, will be the spelling. Whenever the omission of 
vowels or consonants will not injure melody or radicality, it would be 
a more elegant way to omit them. 

On these matters, my rules and remarks must, of necessity, be 
short, but they will be sufficient ; my great aim is to simplify. 

20 THE FIFTH DECLENSION 

Contains nouns of both genders ; the genitive sin- 
gular is formed by adding nn or eAnn to the noun, 



ISO IRISH GRAMMAR. 

and the dative by the addition of |r>t>. Nomin- 
ative, accusative, and vocative singular, cedftA (a 
boundary) genitive cedjteATjt), dative ceojtA^rjr). The 
nominative, accusative, and vocative plural are formed 
by inserting i> before a in the nominative singular, 
thus ceofinA, nominative plural, form ceojtA, nomi- 
native singular; the dative and ablative plural, by 
adding ^b to the nominative plural. The exceptions 
to this rule appear to me to be the result of ignorant 
writers or copyists. To this rule belongs &]|te, 2llbA* 
2iftA ; genitive, &j|te<yr)n, 2llbAi;o, 2tftAtH), &c. 

Nominative ^ja, genitive *t)e, plural <t)ee, or 
<De]cej genitive <1)ja, dative ttejb, or <De]£]b. 
Nominative l&, genitive l<ve, or Iaoj, dative l&, or 
lo, plural lAec, or lA]£e, lAecA^b, or l&iqb ; cno ; 6, 
or ua {an offspring), 5 a, rn], cao{ia, bfiu, beAT>, cjto^ 
c|te, ceo are irregular. 

2i — ADJECTIVES 

Are declined after the rules of nouns, with a small 
shade of difference. Authors are not agreed as to the 
number of declensions. I will set them down as four. 
The student, who will attend to the rules, which regulate 
nouns, will have no difficulty in declining adjectives. 

22. — -THE FIRST DECLENSION. 

Of this class are all nouns ending in consonants, with 
a, o, or u before them ; as bocu. 

There is this difference between the declension of nouns, and that 
of adjectives : — the former has the nominative plural, as the 
genitive singular, whereas the latter takes a for the ending of 
the nominative plural, thus in the noun bocc&n, genitive 
bocc*v|Tj, nominative plural boccA]r> ; but the genitive singular of caoI 
is caoUv. Strangers to our language find it hard to sound this and 
similar words ; but strangers to the English tongue find it much more 
so to sound gh, and ug ; laugh (laffj; lough (logh ) or lok); tough 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 31 

{tuff J; trough ftro, or, truffj; ghost fgdstj; gherkin (djerkin); 
through (threw). Instances of such difficult pronunciation might be 
multiplied; see third and fourth page of my Essay on Ireland (1856.) 
hang, prefix c, add e, and we have change. There has not yet been, and 
will not be fixed, a standard for English orthography. 

Now, as regards caojI, the sound of the reader's ear will guide 
him, but a good key is qiCil in French ; whoever can pronounce the 
latter will the former, the sound being exactly identical. 

The dative and ablative plural of adjectives do not take the same 
endings as the nouns they qualify, but are always the same as the 
nominative and accusative plural, thus ; rtiiljb 5ojxtt)A, to blue eyes. 

Some few adjectives are placed before the nouns, as reAn beAn, 
old woman ; bfioc 6u]ne, bad person; b\\oc nj> bad thing ; roin, or 
tnjon ; as m]Of\ cloc, a pebble ; 5e<xri, as 5eA|t £oca]1, sharp word ; 
jrfAfi, as pfAfi uit3e, pure or spring water. 

23. THE SECOND DECLENSION 

Has all adjectives, ending with a consonant, with 
a slender vowel before it; as 5l]c, which is the 
same in all the cases of the number singular ; but 
it takes e for the nominative plural, as it does for the 
genitive singular in the feminine gender. 

ST^lpr makes rnilre ; Aoib]nr>, or AO]67nn makes AO]b]nne, delightful, 
hence — "heaven"), aIuitjtj, Alujnrje, A]lne. Ajlle. 

24, THE THIRD DECLENSION 

Comprises all adjectives in 2lrr)A^l, as -pi a^catt; a |l== 
fiohouil) it takes a final for the genitive singular, and 
nominative plural, and drops, by syncope, A|, before 
the final consonant. 

The Rev. Ulic Bourke in his well arranged and useful grammar, 
published in Dublin, 1856, writes that atijajI, or attjuiI is the same as 
rAn)<Ml (Latin, " similis", like) ; he adds that AmAfl is often con- 
tracted into A^l ; thus, cuAt-v\ri)Afl into cuaca]1, lordly or like^a lord ; 
mAC a rAroAjl, son like father, or cat after kind, qualis pater talis 
filius. 

25 THE FOURTH DECLENSION. 

To this declension belong all adjectives, ending with 
a vowel ; they are invariable, being alike in all ca?es, 
in both numbers, as fonA. They are heteroclites. 



32 IRISH GRAMMAR. 

26 COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES. 

There are three degrees of comparison in Irish, 

positive, comparative, and superlative. 

There are, strictly speaking, only two degrees of comparison in any 
language, viz., the comparative and superlative, though there are a thou- 
sand objects of the same species, superior or inferior, in each species. 
Let me suppose that on this globe there are one thousand mountains, the 
highest being Chimalaree, 29,015 feet, and the lowest 3,000 ; of course 
each is a degree lower or higher than the other ; in this sense there are 
as many degrees as there are objects. Grammarians, however, have 
conveniently limited the numher to three. The positive state of the 
adjective cannot be properly called a degree of comparison, no more 
than the landing can be called a step in a flight of stairs, yet the term 
has been used conventionally to suit learners, though they be adults^ 
as they are young in knowledge. 

The comparative degree is generally formed by 
prefixing rf\o\ to the feminine gender of adjectives ; 
positive, 5eAji]t (e&=a in ask, as if a-ask), short, Tjjof 
3ui]t|ie, shorter, jf jtqjtfie, shortest, |reA]t bAll, a blind 
man, peAft i)|Of bo-|lle, "peAfi jf bO]lle, the blindest man ; 
but the comparison of participial adjectives is made 
simply by irjof and fp ; thus, bACA/jgce (=ddhaee-e) 
colored;, x)]oy bACxvjjjce, more colored* -|p bAXA]5ce> 
most colored. 

All adjectives in ac have the feminine A]{ ) e = ee-e. 

There is a seeming defect as regards the mode of comparing Irish 
adjectives as there is in French. In the latter the comparison is made 
by prefixing plus for the comparative, and le plus for the superlative ; 
tard, plus tard, le plus tard, "slow," "slower," "slowest. "Njor (in 
this word the 7 needs no accent ['] as 70 is naturally long=ee) is equi- 
valent to tj]6 "a thing," and jr, " it is." For example, c.A |*exvfi njor 
U\]b]tte TjAbeAD, or ]r lA/|brte £eAri V& beArj, "a man is stronger than 
a woman ;" the" former is the emphatic form of expression, the latter 
the ordinary. Let us analyze the words ; ^eAtt, " a man, ]r , " is," or 
" it is" (being idiomatic), rj|6, " a thing," lAjbjtie, u stronger," nA, 
" than," beAt), " a woman." I am almost convinced that affixing A or 
e to the feminine of adjectives is the general mode of comparing in 
Irish. Let us see a little farther, ix ^e/le cur A t>a mire " jt is more 
generous you than I," (this idiomatic form is also in French, thus, c'vsi 
lul? c'est nous r "it is he," "it is we"), that is, " you are more gene- 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 33 

rous than I am." If I am right in my view, there is really only one 
degree of comparison and the positive state. Then the compamson is 
made thus, if I would compare ten men or any number — " John is 
stronger than James, James than Michael, Michael than Peter," and 
so on. Nor virtually, is there any other way in any language to com- 
pare a great number of objects of the same kind. A large tree, a larger 
tree, a larger, a larger, and so on, until we come to the largest, which 
may be the thousandth, and to it the term larger is justly applied, re- 
latively to the tree before it. A convincing proof that r> for is only a 
usual, but not an essential prefix of the comparative appears thus — mAjc, 
"good," ^eAfiti, " better," rr ^eAri, "best." We often hear cA re nfor 
peAritt, " he is better." The true version is, re, " he," ca, " is," tr|b, 
"a thing" (a understood), that is, feAtiri, "better ;" ^eAriri is the com- 
parative degree: if, therefore, ij|or be the signof comparison, there will 
be a double comparison, which is corrupt, and does not exist in any 
language. An author has written in page 118 of his learned 
grammar (a work I did not read until I was doing the manu- 
script of this work, nor indeed any Irish grammar, as I preferred 
the experience I derived from teaching the authors, and from conver- 
sation, to any grammar), and has laid down, that no sentence, in which 
the comparative is required can be perfect without having jorjA after 
the adjective. This I can say, there is no form in Connaught now- 
a-days, nor would it be graceful either in sound or writing. The 
fact that terms are found in old works does not establish their beauty ; 
I am sure that if a man would say ]r m]lre rml jon<v jro, " honey is 
sweeter than butter." he would be laughed at by learned Irishmen, 
in Connaught and Munster. In regard to indeclinable adjectives in 
a, as ronA, " lucky," if my memory serve me rightly, they take 
]6e for the comparative, thus, ror>A|6e— s^nee-e, " luckier," A]6— ee, 
in all such places, ]r rot)A]6e 2f)uricA6 tjA SeAoAl), "it is luckier 
Morgan than John," or " Morgan is luckier than John." 

A writer says that be, affixed to^ certain adjectives is a prepo- 
sition, not a form of comparison ; it is true it is what is called the 
relative comparison, but it is also an augmentative ; he adds that be is 
equal to be e, " of it," and he gives us an instance, £A]be, " the 
longer of," now £Ajbe is itself the comparative form ; to support, 
therefore, his analysis he should have printed £A]bebe, as be was 
already in the word : he further says, that jr jreriTibe tix rjij, " thou art 
the better of that," can be thus analysed, jr ^^V-V- cu be nt?, "es melius" 
(should be " melior") de eo. Let me tell the writer that not 
an instance of such corrupt Latin can be found in all the authors ; 
de is never used by Latin writers, not even by poetic license, to 
denote the cause, manner, or instrument ; in other words, de never 
expresses " by." In Irish be may be rendered " by" in some passages 
be lo, " by day," but in that place it is the same as " during." 
Again, ]r ^ervribe e tit), is as ordinary a phrase as the former. The 



84 IRISH GRAMMAR. 

author's analysis must then be be e, be f, thus, jr treAtitt f be nr>, 
M est melior de eo."* In the next place, admitting the analysis to be 
accurate (which it is not), rjn, not be, is the Irish of his eo, " that." 
This remark is made not for the purpose of fault-finding, but to guard 
others. against such an error. To write the grammar a man must 
have spoken the language in infancy, have, at that age, attended to it, 
and he must be a sound linguist. The digester of a school grammar 
must be a teacher. 

There can be no doubt that be is the mark of the comparative in 
some adjectives, as u^tom, " heavy," cftoome, orctxujme "heavier," 
is the usual comparative, yet cfi/fomjobe,. or crvu]m]be is used. 

HI cfqroibe loc Iac, 

"Nf^ctiimjbe eAc ni|An, 

Wf crtjmjbe cAoftA b-olAnn, 

"Hf cfi/|rnjbe co\&yn C]Al. . - . „ 

This stanza runs thus, verbatim, 

Not heavier a lake a duck, 

Not heavier a steed a bridle, 

Not heavier a sheep a fleece, 

Not heavier a body reason. 
In other language — 

A lake is not heavier of the duck, 

A steed is not heavier of a'bridle, 

A sheep is not heavier of a fleece, 

A body is not heavier of reason. 
The bit is no burden to the prancing steed, 
Nor is the fleece to the woolly breed, 
The lakes, with ease, do bear the swimming kind, 
Nor doth right reason aggravate the mind. 
I have written crf|m]be, not cfm]mu]be,in the above lines, thinking 
it worse than nonsense to crowd vowels together, when neither melody 
nor rule requires them, tjf cfi-|m|be 6u a 1eAc ro, "you are nothing the 
heavier, this flag ;" here "of" is understood, as it was before " a duck," 
" a bridle," " a fleece," "reason" in the quatrain. 

Kf cfi]m]be G05A17 beAnnAcc An c-rA5A|ic, "John is not the heavier 
of the priest's blessing," which, in conventional language among the 
peasantry, means, " John is the better of the priest's blessing." In 
this sentence, t)eAnnAcc is the object of the adjective, as grams 
armis, " encumbered with his arms," in Horace. In Irish as in 
Latin, adjectives govern cases ; it is so in English — " a wall three 
feet high," here "high," an adjective of dimension, governs the 
objective " three feet ;" though some think that " three feet" is go- 
verned by " by," which is understood. 

^eAri cfiom, " a heavy man," ^eAft cft]m |be, or qajmroe, ".a 

* " He or she is the better of that." 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 35 

heavier man," jreA|t jr cfimn&e, " a heaviest man." This is clearly 
the true mode of comparison, and at the same time I am of opinion 
from my early knowledge of our language, the positive, repeated was 
the superlative form ; I was taught to say cfiom ctiom, to express 
" most grievously," when repeating the Confiteor. That was the 
form in eastern nations, and is to this day ; booths booth kali admi, 
11 the best man," is the superlative in Hindoostanee language. It was 
the primitive mode in all countries. If I have failed in clearing up 
this point, I feel that, at least, I have done something to assist those 
who will follow. 

The initial consonant (if aspirable), of the second part of a com- 
pound adjective is aspirated : Dr. O'Donovan makes f exxri itjA]t (placing 
a hyphen) a compound word ; that can be no more done than vir 
bonus. Having found them, perhaps, joined in manuscript made him 
do so. It is not, indeed, proper to join r&fi, Ufi, An, Tfon, T*°> tvj, &c., 
to adjectives ; these are called intensitive or augmentative particles, 
as the word "very," but bo, n^im, co, co]ri), are joined, as, co-cAbAficAc, 
written 'cobAtttAc, " relieving," neiri)-c]nn~e, " uncertain," neAn> 
tottcAc, "unfruitful," &o-bri6nAc, " very sad," cojn>6ffteAc, "straight," 
better " equally straight," but we .must write, An it)A]c, jio iijAF» ft] 
ii)Aic, Tl ! 1 * X&V- tbA]c, uti ti)A)c, " very good." " too good," " right 
good," "truly good," "good enough," " extremely good." These few 
examples attest the richness of expression in our language. 

The irregular adjectives are as follows : beA5. t)]or lu^A (a vowel 
before an aspirated consonant is long), ?r IuJa, £Uixur, " easy," nfor 
|*urA, 71* £UfA, "easier," "easiest;" X°5^U flf°r T°lT5e, (better 
po]5f e, also neAfA), ti)&-\t, veAnn> IT Ve&V-V-* " good," " better," 
" best" (or, is better still ;) olc, roeArA, ]? meArA, " bad," " worse," 
" worst ;" Tnoti " great," mo, " greater," ix tijo, greatest ;" ctircA, 
" soon," ctircAjDe, " sooner," ]r ctircA]6e, " soonest ;" mmic, "often," 
ro]nic]6e, "oftener," ix minjcide, " oftenest." There maybe two or 
three other irregular adjectives which I cannot call to mind. 

:S : OF NUMERALS APPLIED TO 
PERSONS ONLY. 

ORDINALS. 

ceAb, AonrnA6. 
&A|tA, &ori)A6. 
ctieAr, ctifri)A6. 

CeACflATT)A6. 
cti]5CA&. 

re^mAD, and re]feA6. 

reAccii)A&. 

occri)A6. 

t)AO]rbA6. 

&e]cri)A6, 



OF NUMERAL ADJECT 


VALUE 


. CARDINALS. 


1. 


^orj. 


2. 


- bo, 6a, 


3. 


cm. 


4. 


ceAcA]^, ce]t\\e 9 


5, 


cti|5, 


6. 


Te, 


7. 


reAcc, 


8. 


occ, 


9. 


T)AO|, 


10. 


&e(c, 



36 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 



VALUE 


. CARDINALS, 


ORDINALS. 


11. 


Aot)-6eA5, 


AOT)rr)A6 beA5. 


12. 


bo 6e^5. 


bori)A6 be<X5, 


13. 


ctif-&eA5, 


ctijri)A& beA5, or cfteAr beA£. 


14. 


ceAcAi|i-&eA3, 


ceAttiAtT)A6 beA5. 


15. 


cu]5-&eA5. 


cu]5ii)A6 beA5. 


16. 


re-beA5, 


rert)At> beA5. 


17. 


reAcc-beA5, 


reAccTi)Ab-beA5* 


J 8. 


occ t>eA5, 


oc£ttja6 be^5, 


19. 


t)AO]-&eA5, 


t)AO|irjA6 6eA5- 


20. 


£]ice, or jnce, 


V|tceA6. 


21. 


J Aon V ?]tce, or 
\ Aor> A]|t ntcfb, 


aoi}tt)A6 Ajji f]cc]b. 


22. 


f bo 'r £]6ce, or 
L&o Am nt6]b, 


bOTTJA6 A||l f |CC]b. 


23. 


Jc^ ' r ^|6ce, or 


cfi|Tt)A6 Ajfi f|tc|b. 






24. 


ceAcAift 'r ^}tce, 


ceAcfuvrT)A6 ^IT* Htcjb. 


25. 


Cu 15 *X H^ce, 


6u|5rbA6 A]ti tltqb. 


26. 


re ? r Piece, 


renjAd A]|i n^1 b - 


27. 


reAcc *r wtce, 


reAccri)A6 A]fi fpqb. 


28. 


occ 7 r H^ce, 


OCCTt)A6 A]fl f]ccjb. 


29. 


T)AO| 'f f]6ce, 


t)AO]Tt>eAQ A]fi jrjtcfb. 


30. 


5 be-\c *x pfece, ancient 
( form cfipcAb, 


be]GiT)A6 Affi j:-\tcib< 


31. 


aot) 6e v \5 A|t j.*]6cb, 


AOT)ri)A6 beA§ A]ti fjtcjb. 


40. 


bA piccjb, 


bA £1£d]beA6. 


50. 


be]c V bA £-|cqb,cA03<vb, 


be]crt)A6 A^fi 6A flccjb. 


60. 


c]t| pitc|b, 


cftf ^]cqbeA6. 


70. 


be-fd 'r crn ri^? 6 » 


be]cn)Ab Am tjtf vitqb. 


80. 


cejtjte p|6c|b, occrbo^Ab 


, ce|6tte £]6qbeA6. 


90. 


bejc Y ceit]ie f|qb, 


be]cri)A6 A]tv cefqie £]tc]b. 


100. 


ce&b, 


ceAbA6. 


200. 


bA ceAb, 


bA ceAbA6. 


300. 


c|t] ceAb, 


cfV| ceAbAO. 


400. 


ceicfie ceAb, 


ce|tfie ceAbA6. 


1000. 


n>f1e, 


rnfleA6. 


2000. 


6a rbfle, 


bA rijfleAo 


3000. 


cm tb]le, 


cfi] rnfleA6. 


10,000 


be]6 tnfle, 


t>e]c rnfleA6. 


1000,000. Ti)iUiCiTj, 


Tn]U]dT)A6. 



27 PRONOUNS. 

A pronoun is a substitute for a noun; there are six 
sorts of pronouns, namely, personal, relative, demo 
gtrative^ possessive, indefinite, and interrogative. 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 37 

A mere outline of the pronouns will be sufficient for the generality 
of readers. 

There are four personal pronouns, as, rrje, cu, "se," 
" si."* 

2t)e, /. 
Singular. Plural. 

Nom. and Ace. nje. Nom. and Ace. T]VV> or ]VV» 

Dat. bo rt). 9 Dat. bu ]r)t). 

Abl. ua|H), l|Orr>, b]orrj. Abl. uajth?, UA-|i)T)e, ^t)r>. 

The emphatic form is Nominative, and Accusative, 
n)]fe, or rrjefe. Dative, bArr;-fe. 

'Cu, f/ww, ( Singular). ' 

Simple form . Empha tic . 

Nom. cu, thou. cufA, tf/bw thyself. 

Dat. bujc, to £/W. bufcf e,- to thee thyself 

Abl. u&]c 5t /h>?72 thee. uA^bfe, from you. 

Ac. t\x. cuj'A, i/ze£ thyself. 
Plural. Emphatic. 

Nom. f]b. ffb^e. 
Dat. b|b, or b]ob, bAOjb, frjbfe, or frjobf e, bAO]bj*e. 

f jb, or ^b. tl^fe, or ]bfe. 

Se, Ae, Mas. 

Singular. 
Simple form. Emphatic form. 

Nom, f*e and e.f fe-j*eAt>, or e-feAt>. 

Ace. b. e-feAt?. 

Abl. b' e, uA]8e. b' e-^eArj. 



* Vowels, being the last letter of monosyllables, need no accent, as 
they are, with few exceptions, long, as, le, U, lo, fte, me, -ft], cu, ru (e, 
-a, o, |, u, " ay," " aw," " owe," " ee 7 " " oo"). 

t Se, xh TIV* n At> » m tne active voice, also in the nominative case ; 
but e, 7, m, ia&, in the passive voice and accusative case. 



38 IRISH GRAMMAR. 

Plural. 
Norn, f]Ab, or ]Ab. |^Ab«fAr), or ^Ab-j*At). 

Ace. fAb. ]Ab-]*Ar). 

Abl. uA^8e. • ua8c a-]* at). 

Si j she. Fern. 
Singular. Plural. 

Nom. f] and f, sA<?. fj^b, or ^Ab. 

Dat. b' |, to her. bojb. 

Abl. b' -j, or u]c ], jfrawz ua8£ a. 
her. 

Irish has its affixes, rA, re, rjnn, ]nn, vein, &c. ; so has Latin, 
met, pte, te, se, &c, memet, " myself," suopte, " his own self," tute, 
" thyself," sese, " himself; "Greek abounds in affixes, and so have all 
languages ; the English has a variety of them. 

Any attentive student will see bo, as given in grammars, is not a 
case, or by any means a part.of the pronouns, but only the sign of 
a case; hence I have given it as such; caBajx bo e, the simple 
translation of the clause is, cAbAfi? " give," e, " it," &o, " to" (e, 
■" him" being understood), b'j (corruptly coalescing in grammar) = 
bo 7, " to her," or " from her." 

An author says, that the union of the simple prepositions with 
personal pronouns, which happens in Irish, is a peculiarity which 
distinguishes it and its cognate dialects, from all the languages of 
Europe. I am inclined to think that want of reflection was the 
cause of such an error, and indeed men, when writing, owing to the 
rush of ideas, will thoughtlessly interchange things ; this is often the 
result of a bad .memory, not of ignorance, as in this case. The 
Italians more commonly say, meco, teco, seco, than con, mi, con, ti, or 
te, con si, or se, " with me," " with thee," " with himself," also, 
colla, " not," con la, " with him," and the Italian poets, for con noi, 
con voi, write noscv, vosco, *' with us," " with you." In all these 
places the preposition " co" blends with, and is placed after the 
pronouns, just as in Latin, tecum, mecum, nobiscum, vobiscum, qui- 
buscum. It would be useless to quote farther to show that other 
languages than the Irish have the pronouns and prepositions incorpo- 
rated. 

Fe|r>, " self," is often attached to the foregoing pronouns for the 
sake of emphasis, but when it is placed after possessive pronouns the 
noun conies between them, as njo ceAc-rA yew, " my house very 
own," " my own very house." 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 33 

28 POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS. 

Of these there are five, and are indeclinable, roo, 
"my," bo, "thy," a, "his," "her," " its," "their;" 
Aft, "our," bA|t, "your." 

These, as in Latin, denote passion as well as possession ; ca-oaiti 
60 a jttjajJ (=ee-wawee) " give him his picture ;" this clause ean 
denote passion and possession ; passion only is signified if " his" be 
intended for "of him. " In the next place the picture maybe '* of 
him," that is " like him," but not his property, but the image may 
be " like a man," and " belong to a man:" in such case there is 
passion and possession ; I have Archbishop MacHale's likeness ; here 
is possession, a itt>A]5, " his image ;" but if His Grace has one like 
himself, then a jix>A|5 denotes passion and possession. 

29. THE RELATIVE PRONOUNS 

Are these, a, who, which, what, tjac, tjoc, T)eAc, 
"who, "which," and i6 who not," rjeAc must be, in 
some places, equivalent to " the person ;" as a has some- 
times b before it, so b' A==be a, or bo a, "of" or "to 
whom," " which," or " what." 

30 — The Interrogatives are c]A, ce, ca, ja, 
CAb, cjieAb, or cjieub. 

31 — Demonstrative Pronouns are, |*o, "this/' 
"these," rub, ub, " you," TV** " tna V " those ;" " these/ 
are invariable ; but for fo, we have sometimes f], ye 
(a vowel final of monosyllables requires no accent as it 
is by position long), and for fjn, we have occasionally 
fAl), fov. 

32 Indefinite Pronouns are 3ibe. ejbe, "who- 
ever," e^le, o^le, fie, " other," ao i}, "any," ujie, "all," 
CAC-u]le, "all in general," a cejle, "each other," 
&]3]t), " some." 

33 — Distributive Pronouns are e]le, "each/* 
5ac, cac, "each 5 ' "every," c&jc is the genitive of cac, 
and this is the only change these words have. 

E 



40 IRISH GRAMMAR. 

Many writers have set down An-c-e, Arj-t-] as an indefinite 
pronoun. This error was the result of a want of a practical know- 
ledge of the language. After the closest investigation of the word, 
such as I never before made about any word, I am convinced it is 
equal to An fcU]ne, " the person," and that the simple version of at) c-e, 
is " the he," " the him." In all parts of the Irish Testament it has that 
interpretation— co]l aw r-e, " the will of him;" again, "the he," or 
»' the person," as, at) c-e neAC b-jruil, " the he," " the person who 
is not." The relative, a, being omitted, ax) r-e 5-Ti]6ir=ATi c-e (a), 
5-r>]6]r, " the person (who) does." The c is only euphonic, as 5 in 
Greek, /^Sexs (" nobody"), and the French, a-t-il, " has he." 

34. — Compound Pronouns, ajatt?, &5a-\vv 9 " with 
me," " with us," a^ao, or AjAb, A5A]b, " with you," 
a-(5 e, ac a, "with him/' "with them," A]C j, and ajc }\ e, 
'" with her," " with them," b]Orrj, &|t)T), b^c, b]b, or 
b^ob, be, b6]b, b-j (=thee), " off me," "off us," "off 
thee," " off you," " off him," off them," " of her," bAtr;, 
or born, bup, bo, b-|, bujnt), bAO^b, buib, b^b, b6]b=^bo 
r^e, bo cu, bo e, bo ^ bo -|rrn, bo AO]b, bo ib, "to me," 
"to thee/' "to him," "to her," " to us/' " to you," 
' f to them:" usus te plura docebit ; Ajce, a-jci, and 
most of the compound pronouns ought to be written 
in the simple form. 

35. op verbs. 

A verb* expresses action, undergoing an action, 
being, or a condition of being, as but), "shut,"b|, "be," 
fi^8, or fu]g, "sit," buA^lceAji, "is beaten." 



* Philologists say that a language is the grand characteristic of a 
nation ; the Irish language is the true mark of the Gael or Scythic 
tribes, which, Sir Walter Raleigh writes, bad rather, at all times, yield 
up their green fields than submit to slavery; this assertion is being 
verified this day, as the natives of Ireland (the most comfortable of 
the peasantry), are flying from under the yoke. In other tongues the 
infinitive or indicative mood is the root of the verb, but the radix of 
an Irish verb is the imperative, being emblematic of their disposition 
to rule, not to be ruled. 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 4 i 

The first classification of verbs is divided into active, 
passive, and neuter ; the first class is transitive and 
intransitive ; these classes are subdivided into regular, 
irregular, and defective. 

36. — Conjugation. Rev. Mr. Bourke says, there are 
two conjugations ; be it so, his reasoning is very fair, 
he says, and truly, that every verb ends with a 
slender or broad vowel before its final consonant. 

Let me add to this, that as the slender vowels are these which, 
according to melody and philology, are first intoned on the organ of 
speech, verbs having e, or 7, bslong to the first conjugation, and these 
with a, o, u, to the second. The mouth or organ begins to open 
naturally with e, |, a, o, u. Let the reader sing them and he will 
find the gradual opening and closing of the mouth, which will prove 
that such is the just order of the vowels. 

It is to be observed that in modern languages it is not an easy 
matter to say to what conjugation a verb may belong, because in old 
writing a verb may have a slender final vowel, whilst modern Irish 
has a broad vowel. Thus, cer, " to torment" (in the old form), and the 
modern form is ceAf. Now, according to Rev. Mr. Bourke ceAr is 
the first, and cer is tne - second conjugation. O'Donovan says nothing 
of conjugations, neither does Halliday. MacCurtin says they seem to 
him so many, that he " will not attempt to classify verbs." The Rev. 
Paul O'Brien gives two conjugations, because he says, " such a 
system was better understood in his time." Dr. Stewart gives two 
conjugations; the first comprises verbs' beginning with a consonant, 
the second, those beginning with a vowel. 

After tbe above had been penned, I looked through the dictionary, 
and after mature consideration, I give as my opinion, that there are 
two conjugations. One contains verbs ending in aspirated con- 
sonants, as A75, U75, 75 (=ee), a6, ait) (00), the second contains all 
verbs ending in consonants that are not silent, as, I, m, v, n, r> &c. 

37. — MOOD, 

Or mode, is a shape or form of a verb, expressing the 
manner of being, action, or undergoing an action. 
There are seven modes, the imperative, the indicative* 
the potential, the optative, the subjunctive, the habi- 
tudinal, and the infinitive. 



42 IRISH GRAMMAR* 
38 OF TENSES. 

There are three tenses* or times, viz. present, 
past, and future. 

39 CONJUGATION. 

Active voice of a regular irerft— first conjugation , 
bu^l, "beat thou." The imperative mood, which 
has but the present tense, is as follows; singular, 
buA^l, " strike thou,'* bit<v|leA8 ye 9 "let him strike ;'* 
plural, buAjljroif, orbu^lirrjjb," let us strike/' buA|l]8, 
M strike ye," buAjl]&jf, "let them strike/' 

40.— INDICATIVE MOOD. 

PRESENT TENSE. 

Singular. Plural. 

1. bmvjljrr), 1 strike. 1. biiA]ljrr)]b, we strike. 

2. bu<y|li]i, thou strikest. 2. buA|lc|8, ye or you 

strike. 

3. buA|l|8 fe, he strikes. 3. buA|l]b, they strike. 

FAST TENSE. 

Singular. Plural. 

1. bu<v|leAf ,f 1 struck. 1 . buA]leAtu<vfi, we struck. 

2. buA]l|f * thou struckest. 2. buA]leAbA|t, you struck. 

3. buA]l \ e * h e struck. 3. btuvfleAbAft, they struck. 

<t)o is sometimes used before this tense, but, I think 
that such is proper only when emphasis is implied. 



* Tense is a name used by grammarians to mark the time of the 
occurrence of an event. 

f Or bu^l rne, buA^l cu, buAjl re ; plural, biiAil riW), buA]l rib, 
buA|l rjab, " I struck," &c. ; this is the vernacular interrogative form s 
buA]leAr is the historical and answering form. 



IRISH GRAMMAR. . 43 

FUTURE TENSE. 

Singular. Plural. 

1. btuvjlfreAb, / shall or 1. buAilpjrnib, we shall 

will strike. strike. 

2. buA|lfr]]t, thou shalt 2. buA|lfr|8, you shall 

strike. strike. 

3. buA|lp]8 ye 9 he shall 3. biiAjlfr|b, they shall 

strike. strike. 

41.— HABITUDINAL MOOD. 

Present Tense Singular — buA]leAr)r) n?e, biiA]~ 

le&vr) cu, bu<s]le&w T e — Plural — biiA]leAT)r> y]t)tj r 
biiAjleAW f]b, bu^leAW j*|Ab, " I am in the habit of 
striking/ 5 or " usually strike," &c. 

Imperfect Tense Singular — bu<\]l]r)0, buA]leeA, 

buA]leA8 ye. — Plural — biiAiljnrjf, btiAjlcjb, biiA]l]8]f, 
"I used to strike,' 5 "I was in the habit of striking," 
or v; usually struck," &c. 

42.— POTENTIAL MOOD. 

Present Tense. — Singular— buA^l^ur), bu<v|lpeA 5 
biiA|lpeA8 ye. — Plural— buA]lf|nrjr, buA]lf]8, buA]l- 
f|b]|*, "I would strike," "you would strike," &c. 

43— SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD. 

This mood is formed by prefixing rnA (which aspi- 
rates the initial consonant, if aspirable), to the tenses 
of the indicative, and bA to the potential mood, thus, 
rnA ce]l]rn, " if I concealed,'* rr)A ce]l, or rnA cejlij*, " if 
1 concealed;'' bA 5-cejljqiK),* "if I would conceal." 

* The reader will have observed that bA mortifies the initial aspirable 
consonant c, in the above word, and in all such places every initial 
aspirable consonant, r excepted, is mortified j toa takes after it th« 



44 IRISH GRAMMAR. 

The simple form of the present indicative was given above, but v 
annexed is the emphatic form : 

Singular. Plural. 

1. bxiAfl rne,* / do strike. 1. bu^jl T]i)t) 9 we do strike. 

2. bu<v|l cu, you do strike. 2. btuv|l j*]b, you do strike. 

3. buAjl fe, Ae does strike. 3. buA]l f]Ab, they do 

strike. 

The future is also used thus, in modern Irish : 
Singular. Plural. 

1. buA]l-feA8f rr;6, / will 1. buA]l-feA8 |*|t)r) 5 we will 

strike. strike. 

2. bu&]l-fe&8 cu, yow wzVZ 2. biiAil-freAb f jb, ye w?'// 

strike. strike. 

3. buA]l-^eA8 |*e, Ae will 3. bu*v|l-£eA8 f| Ab ? ^K 2 / 

strike. will strike. 

The optative mood which implies a wish, is, as to form, the present 
indicative (the first person only being different, and ending in eA&, or 
a6), 50 only being prefixed, and the initial consonant, if an aspirable 
one, being always mortified, thus, 750 n-fceArjcAft bo toil Aft ah cAUri), 
" thy will be done on earth. " Here a wish is expressed, namely f 
that God's holy will be done by men on earth, as it is by angels and 
saints in heaven. 

The optative mood, strictly so called, must not be mistaken for the 
subjunctive mood, which, also, has 50 before it. In the former case 
a wish, a desire, or a prayer is expressed, whilst in the latter, 50, or 
5un, is only a connective particle, the English of which in this 
instance is, " that," as be-jrim 50 b-]!U]U cu ceAfic, " I say that you 
are right." Here there is neither wish, prayer, nor desire, expressed. 
It would, therefore, be wrong to call 50 b-vu]U the optative mood, 
as it is conventionally the subjunctive. 

present tense, and denotes futurity, but not always a doubt j &a takes 
after it the imperfect tense, and implies doubt and condition ; 50, 51^, 
and some other conjunctions are used as signs of the subjunctive 
mood. 

* The last vowel of every monosyllable is, in general, essentially 
long. 

f The p is silent in Connaught, £eA6 (=i, or hi.) It would 
seem that c, not j:, is the Connaught letter ; or that aspirated £ is a? 
sound as h. 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 45 

" fco" is given by other writers before the present tense, but as I 
think it is inserted only for emphasis or euphony, as the case may be, 
I do not give it. It is seldom inserted before the present, or (I 
think) before the future, and we never use it in Connaught unless for 
emphasis : bu^l me cu, u I struck you" (simple form) ; &o bu^il me 
cu, "I did strike you" (emphatic form). The emphatic form of the 
present and past tense is alike, with this difference, that the first 
consonant of the latter, if aspirable, is aspirated and may take &o 
before it, neither which can happen to the present. When the re- 
lative pronoun "a," " who,", is used, " so" is omitted. 

Ce]l rrie, I do conceal ; ce]l, or &o ce|l, I did conceal. 

1. &o ce^l me, I concealed. 1. &o cejl Viwn, we concealed. 

2. &o cejl cu, you concealed. 2. bo ce|i r]b, ye or you concealed. 

3. bo ce]l re, he concealed. 3. &o cejl n^°j they concealed. 

N.B.; — When a broad vowel comes before the final consonant, a 
broad and slender follows it in the indicative, but a broad only in the 
third person singular, imperative, the first person singular, 1st, 2nd, 
and 3rd plural of the present tense ; the 1st singular and 1st plural 
of the future; 1st singular, 1st and 2nd plural of optative and sub- 
junctive, the present, perfect, and future participles. This is the only 
difference in form in the mode of conjugating verbs of the two classes. 
The student, therefore, who can master one verb, will be able to go 
through any verb. Herein is preserved the rule, " slender to slender, 
broad to broad,' 5 that is, e or 7, coming before a final consonant, will 
have an e or 7 after it ; but, if a, o, or u, go before, either of them 
(as occasion may require) will follow, thus, ce]l]ro, rmuAjnim, 
bun^im, &Cir)Ar, bCinA6, 5orjArm, locAim. 

The emphatic form is done as that of bu<X]l, thus, fcCin me, "I do 
close," &o 6ur> me, u I closed,", &o q6, " I saw" (emphatic) ; c|6eAr, 
" I saw" (not emphatic). My own notion is that it would be abetter 
system to place a slender only after a slender, and a broad after a 
broad, thus, cer, cerim, ^5, £A5<\m. The error of placing j before 
a, arose thus, a in some places" sounds j, as A5=j5 i 



SECOND CONJUGATION— Active voice. 
.44.— IMPERATIVE MOOD. 

3 ur ?> wound thou. 

Singular — 511!}, " wound thou," 5ut)a8 ye, " let 
him wound." Plural — 3UT)Arnu|f*, "let us wound," 
5unA]b, ."let you wound," or "wound you or ye r " 
junA^b]]*, " let them wound." 



46 



IRISH GRAMMAR r 

45— INDICATIVE MOOD. 



PRESENT TENSE. 

Singular. Plural. 

1. 5ur)AiTt),* I wound. 1. 7;iir)<Mi)U]b, w<? wound. 

2. 5ur)A]]t, ^Aozz woundest. 2.T ) \xyz&]'6 i yeoryouwound 

3. 3ui)A]8 f e, Ae wounds. 3. 3ur)A(b, Me^ wound. 

PAST TENSE. 

Singular. Plural. 

l.TjurjAf, / wounded or 1 . tjuoattxvji, z#e wounded, 

have wounded. or have wounded. 

2. gurjAlfj £/*0^ woundest, 2. jurjArJA/ft, y^w wounded, 

or^ 8fc. fy c * 

3. 51JT) pe, Ae wounded, Sfc. 3. TjurjAbAjt, £/i6??/ wounded, 

Sfc. 

FUTURE TENSE. 

Singular. Plural. 

1. T^xryf&b^ I shall or ivi/l 1. ^woyAnju^b, we will 

wound. wound. 

2. 5ut)^A]]t, thou wilt 2. 5ur)pAj8, you will wound 

wound. 

3. 5urrpA]8 -pe, A<? t^i// 3. 5urrpA}b, Mey w??7/ 

wound. wound. 



* The Verb and nominative case incorporated, as cA|m for ca me, is 
called synthetic, and that these words written, separated, is called 
analytic, as ca Tne, btirj me, but this latter I denominate the emphatic 
form of a tense. There is another modern form of the tenses, which 
I can find in no grammar, and the fact that no notice has been taken 
of it, surprises me very much. It is this, and maybe properly termed 
the actual form ; cA]Tn, or ca me a buAU6, " I am beating," or " a 
beating," or 6, a bu<vl<\6, " I am to his beating," that is, " I am 
beating him," b]6 me, b]6eAr, " I was beating," be?6 me a buAU6, 
"I will be beating," b]6|m a budlAo, "I do be beating," b|6]n, "I 
used to be beating," be]6]nn a buAU6, " I would be beating," and so. 
on in all the other moods and tenses. 

\ This £ is not aspirated in Munster, its sound is gumfudh. 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 47 

46.— HABITUDINAL MOOD. 

Present Tense.— Singular — jurxvw n?e, surjArjr) 
cu, 5ur)At)r) fe; plural — ^uv^vv rjW, SurjAnn fjb, 
5ut)<vr)r) f*]Ab, " I am in the habit of wounding,'' or 
'• usually wound, " &c. 

Imperfect Tense. — .Singular—i^utj^vw, "zjutjca, 
jur)A8 ]*e, 5ur)Arnu]f, tjuhca^, jutjAjb, " I used to 
wound," &c. 

47.— POTENTIAL MOOD. 

Present Tense. — Singular — tjut^ajt)!}, 5unfr a, 
5UT)frA8 fe, junfrArnuij*, 5111)^8, junf a^ji, IC I would 
wound," "you would wound," &c. 

For subjunctive mood, see page 43. 

48.— OPTATIVE MOOD. 

Singular — 50* i>5tu;)Ab, " may I wound," or " that 
I may wound," 30 THjurjAjft, " that thou mayest 
wound, " &c, 50 i>5ur)A]8 |*e, "that he may wound,'' 
50 T)-5unAmu]b, that we may wound/' 50 t^-jurjcA^, 
" that ye may wound,'' 50 i>5utjai&j " that they may 
wound." 

49— INFOITIVE MOOD. 
<t)o 3iir)A8, or a 5111)^8, " to wound," present par- 
ticiple, A3 (=igg), 5111^8, u wounding ;'* past participle, 
-jAft t)-3ui)A8, " having wounded/ 5 or "after wounding ;■" 
future participle, A|jt z\ 5uha8, " about to wound." 

* The following particles cause the consonant after each of them to 
be eclipsed, that is, it is not sounded, 50, ah, £>a, ]Aft, Tn<vnA, munA, 
tjac, tjoca, 50 rn-buAlceA6, " until I beat," or " will beat" (inMunster 
buA]l£eAt>), An n>buAliA (a = a long, as a in task), " would you beat ?" 
a in-buAlcA (a=« short, as a in hat), " will you beat ?" (Munster, 
buAljrA). In these words t=h, very slightly sounded, scarcely 
heard in some places in Connaught, a n-&utu\6, "at the shutting;" 



48 IRISH GRAMMAR. 

Having taken as my model, the best and oldest Latin grammars, 
which do not treat largely of the formation of tenses and persons, and 
as there is an objeot to be gained by brevity, the rules for their forma- 
tion are omitted. Such omission will be obviated by the student's 
close attention to the terminations or endings of the verbs as printed. 
The reader will take care to observe that the imperative is the root. 
Thus in Latin, from arna, the imperative, is formed, ama-re, " to love,'* 
the infinitive. So in Irish, in the first conjugation, from buA|l, 
" strike thou/' you will have the infinitive biiAlao, by dropping j, and 
adding a6 ; but in the second conjugation from btin, " shut thou," is 
formed the infinitive, b&TjA6, by adding a6 only. And in verbs, the 
imperative of which ends in uij, the infinitive is formed by dropping 
U]5, and taking a6, thus, from 5nA6uj5 is formed 5fiAdA6 (—graw-oo), 
li to love," but if a slender vowel precede the final consonant of the 
imperative, in order to form the infinitive, you infix a, as from mfriJo, 
" diminish," or " explain thou," is formed mfojuQAb, " to diminish ;" 

mAfi a m beifi, " as he brings" (ttiati a is just like more quo in Latin,) 
" the manner in which," matt a rj-&e]fi, " the manner in which he 
says," ad c-e rieAc, or tiac n-bUTiAn a ooriur be]6 A]6rneAl Ajfi, " the 
person {the he) who not shuts his door, there will be sorrow on him," 
" the person that does not shut his door will be sorry." This idiom 
may appear strange, but let it be borne in mind that other languages 
have stranger phrases, y a-t-il, is a French phrase, the version of 
which is, " there has he," that is, " are there any ?" que ce est, que 
ce est?" "what that is, what that is?" que ce est que ce vous 
elites ? " what are you saying ?" je ne dis rien, " I not say nothing" 
("I say nothing") ; II fait chaud, "it makes hot" (" it is hot"); 
voire pere est il a logis ? " your father is he at his lodging ?" that is, 
" is your father at home ?" rjoc a n-bubAtic, "did I not say:" a, m who," 
coming before an eclipsable consonant, and preceded by a preposition, 
eclipses the consonant after it ; 6 a b-cA]rj]5 z\x (==owe a dhanig 
thoo) y " whence you came;" but when followed by b, that letter is 
aspirated, as 6 a b-£UAjra, " from whom you got, and when followed 
by jio, or a part of it, the following consonant, if aspirable, is aspi- 
rated, as, 2l6Ari) (==awoo) tto ^ArAroAti, or 6 ft' ^ArArnAti., " from 
Adam whom we sprang." Dr. O'Donovan has forgotten his careful 
carefulstyle, and joined 6 and tt, thus, 6ti. Homer abounds in pas- 
sages wherein letters and syllables are written separately, but the 
student collects them into one sound, rou dap (=tondar), requiring 
the subjunctive mood. Observe the difference between tua, " if," &a, 
"if," bA eclipses and tua does not, nor does it make any change that 
is not already peculiar to the tenses it precedes, thus, ttja bi6, &a Tu- 
be^ ; tua denotes future time, 5UT\ (50 rio), " until," precedes the 
past and indicative, as, 5UTI bUA]lA&A|a, " until they beat," 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 49 

also, by adding ]Tt) to the root of any verb, you have the indicative, 
synthetic, present tense (which means, that the personal pronoun is 
contained in the verb), and by postfixing rne (not, however, added to 
the verb), you have the analytic form. For example, from 5n^6u|cj, 
" love thou," is formed 5tiA6ui5irn, " I love," the synthetic present, 
and 5TtA6u]5 me, " 1 do love," the analytic and emphatic form. In 
like manner, by placing an aspirate (•) over the root of a verb, you 
have the past analytic form, as from buA]l, " strike thou," btin, 
•' shut thou," 5tiA6u]o, " love thou," are formed buA]l (me), " I 
struck," 6Ctn me, " I shut," 5tiA6ufo (me), " I loved." The 
synthetic form of this tense is made by postfixing eAr to such 
roots whose final syllables contain a slender vowel, and adding 
Af only, when the roots contain not a slender vowel. Add eAnn to 
the root of the first conjugation, or Ann to that of the secondhand 
you have the habitual present, thus, buAileAnn, " I use to strike," 
bunAnn, " I use to shut." The habitual past tense is formed by aspi- 
rating the first consonant of the root, and by adding ]nn, or Ajnn, 
thus, buA]l]nn, " I used to strike," 6tiT)A]Tjn, " I used to shut." 

B'F&i&|]t (=baydhir)> " perhaps it is possible," or 
" it was possible ;" b'^e^y,, the analysis of this phrase 
is, bA, or bub, -pe-jbift, translation is as above. 

50.— THE CONJUGATION OF 

^reAbAn, or ^eAbArp, " am able." 

This verb is defective, having neither imperative 
nor infinitive mood. 

There are two ways of inflecting it in Connaught : 

51— INDICATIVE MOOD. 

PRESENT TENSE. 



Singular (first way). 

1 . p^AbATt), / can or am 

able. 

2. ^eAbAfi, thou canst) fyc. 

3. £&AbA8 x e, he can or is 
. able. 



Singular (second way). 
l.^Ab rne, I can or am 
able. 

2. ^&Ab cu, thou canst) 8fc. 

3. f&&b ye, he cart, Sfc. 



50 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 



Plural. 

1 . £6Ab<vrT)A|t, we can or 

are able* 

2. y &AbAOAji, you can, 

S^c. 

3. fr^AbA^b, -peAb y ]Ab, or 

f ^AbAbAfi, £/i<?z/ c#n, 

PAST TENSE 

Singular. 
1. b-{r&AbAf, / could or 

was able. 
2.b-^&AbAif, thou couldst 

or wast able. 
3. b-^&Ab ye, he could, Sfc. 



Plural. 
l.^Ab y\i)V 9 we coin, Sfc. 

2. ye&b f]b, you can, fyc. 

3. ye&& |*lAb, they can, Sfc. 



Singular. 
[ . b-p&Ab x\)e, / could, fyc, 

2. b-jr^Ab zvl, thou couldst, 
fyc. 

3. b-^&Ab ye, he could, Sfc. 



Plural. 

1 . b-^&AbAn?Aji, we could 

or were able. 

2. b-]?6AbAbA|t, ye could, 

#c. 

3. b-^6AbA]b, b-fr&Ab ffAb, 

or b^AbAbA|t, they 
could or were able. 



Plural 

1 . b-jr6Ab yyw, we could 

or were able. 

2. b-{:6Ab y]b, ye eould, 

Sfc. 

3. -f 6Ab -pAb, they could, 

Sfc. 



FUTURE TENSE. 



Singular. 

1 . ye&bye&b* we will be 

able. 

2. ye&byw, thou wilt be 

able. 

3. ye&bye&8 ye, he will 

be able. 



Singular. 

1 . ye&bye&6 xx)e, we will 

be able. 

2. ye&bye&b zu, thou wilt 

be able. 

3. ^eAbfreAb ye, he will be 

able. 



* For the second fr in this tense some have i. 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 51 

Plural. Plural. 

l.p&AbAbjrxvjt, we will be 1. p&AbceA8 V]VV, we will 
able* be able. 

2. ^£AbA8AbAfi, ye will be 2. ]?6AbceA8 j*|b, ye will 

able. be able. 

3. p^AbAib, or peAbAbAji, 3. £6AbceA8 f-jAb, they will 

they will be able. be able. 

52.— SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD. 

PRESENT TENSE. 

1. rt)A fe&b&inj* or ttja ^eAbAjt) rrje, 1/ 1 can. 

2. rrjA fr6Ab]]t, or n)A fr6Abxv]r) cu, if thou canst. 

3. n?A ^6AbeA8 fe, or tt?a fr6AbAit) j*e, {/" fo can. 

Plural. 

1. rrjA fr6AbArr?A]b, or rr)A fr^AbA^t) T1OT? y^tf£ can. 

2. rt)A fr^AbAbA|i, or to a fr^AbA^b f|b, if ye ca/z. 

3. n)A fr^AbAfb, or tt)a fr&AbA]r) fiAb, if I hey can. 

IMPERFECT TENSE. 

Singular. Plural. 

l.bA b-^eAbcAjrjT), if I 1. bA b-^eAbCArnAif, if we 
could. could. 

2. bA b-^eAbcA, i/* fAow 2. bA b-peAbcA]8 f]b, z^ye 

could. could. 

3. bA b-peAb<ceA8 fe, if he 3. bA b-^eAbcA]bjj% or bA 

could. b-peAcieA8 flAb, if 

they could. 

Pronounce the above words thus, maw aydhim, or maw aydhin 
may ; maw aydhir, or maw aydhin thoo ; maw aydee shay, or maw 
aydhin shay ; maw aydh midh, or maw aydhin shin ; maw aydhawar, 
or maw aydhidh shiv ; maw aydhidh, or may aydhun sheeud. 

53 POTENTIAL MOOD. 

This mood is the same in form as the preceding one, with this ex- 
ception, that it has neither rnA^(if), nor &a (if), butb' for so before it. 
In Irish as in Latin, these two moods are alike, with the exception 
stated above. It is therefore sufficient for the student's purpose to 
get the first person, which is &-£ex\&£A]nn, " I might or could," &c, 

F 



52 IRISH GRAMMAR. 

pronounced, dhaythin, and, indeed, in Connaught, the root of the verb 
is pronounced faith, and dhayth, as the case may be ; and the words 
denoting the future time we thus pronounce, faith-ha-may ; faith-ha- 
thoo ; faith-ha-shay ; faith-ha-shinn ; faith-ha-shiv ; faith-ha-sheeud. 
This verb has no imperative, infinitive ; participles nor passive voice, 
but as a substitute for the last,-we have the verbal adjective, jreibjfi, 
as, ix V^IV- teAc, " it is possible for you," or " you may ;" Vfrej&itt 
le]r> " perhaps he could/' that is, " it was able," or " it was possible 
with him." We have other forms for impersonal verbs, ]r ceAric 
(=is &arth),bo m,' bw\z, 66, Ijht), l|b, &6]b, w< it is right for me," 
" for you," &c, or " I ought," " you ought," " he ought," " " we 
ought," " ye ought," " they ought." 

The Yerb bo be|6, "to be," is thus conjugated: 
The Imperative is the root from which the other 
moods are derived : hence we begin with the 

54— IMPERATIVE MOOD. 

Singular, Plural. 

1. , 1, b]rr)|f, let us he, and 

tySrntqb. 

2. frj, be thou. 2. bjS'jS, be ye. 

3. b]8eA8* \h, let him be. 3. hfb]j% let them be. 

55.— INDICATIVE MOOD. 

Present tense, of which there are three forms : — 
The first denoting existence in reference to place 
or condition, as: — 

Singular. Plural. 

1. ztX]U), lam. 1. c&rnujb, we are. 

2. c&ifi, thou art. 2. c&cao], you are. 

3. c& yh, he is. 3. r&fb, they are. 

Negative Form. 
Singular. Plural. 

1. V] b-pujl]rt), I am not. 1. rvj b-^ivflrrjub, w?£ are not. 

2. V)] b-pu]l]]t, thou art not. 2. V) b-pijlq, you are not. 

3. V] b-pujl fe, he is not. 3. j)f b-px]l|b, they are not. 

* A vowel, before an aspirated letter (except c), also when the last 
letter of a monosyllable, is long. 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 53 

Rel. form : at> c-e a b-f uil, " he who is ;" at) c-e ijac 
b-^u^t. " he who is not/' 

The second, denoting habitual being. 

1. b]8|rt), / rftf fo, or am 1. bj8rt)]b, w?e Jo be. 

usually. 

2. b]8]|i, £^0?/ dost be. 2. b]8?irj, yow do be. 

3. b]8 |*6, he does be. 3. b]8^b, they do be. 

The fAzrrf form which is usually called in Irish the 
assertive verb, denotes only simple existence without 
reference to time, place, or situation. It is nothing 
more than the particle if (for the present tense), and 
the personal pronouns placed after it. It has- the same 
meaning with the Latin est, "is." 

1. if rpe, it is I. 1. ]f finrj, it is ice s 

2. if cu, it is thou. 2. if fib 3 it is ye. 

3. |f fe, it is he* 3. if f]Ab, it is they. 

In the interrogative and negative forms, the verbal 
particle if, is omitted, Ex. t>i rrje, <ff it is not I;" ai? 
rr?e, "is it I ?" At) cu, " is it you ?'' 

IMPERFECT OR HABITUAL, FAST. 

Singular. Plural. 

1. b^nr), / used to be. 1. b]8rrnf, toe used to be. 

2. b|8ce&, thou or you used 2. bi8q, ye used to be. 

to be. 

3. b|8eA8 f6, he used to be. 3. b]8&jf, they used to be. 

PERFECT. 

1. bo bi8eAf, I was or have 1. ho bjATDAfi, we were, or 

been. have been. 

2. bo bj8ifj fAtfz* wasf or 2. bo b|AOAjt, */<? were, or 

hast been. have been. 

3. bo bi fe, he urns or has 3. bo bjAbAji, they were, 

been. or have been. 



54 IRISH GRAMMAR. 

Interrogative, or Negative Form. 
Singular. Plural. 

1 . r)j |iAbAf, / was not. 1 . r)] ]tAbATt)A]t, we were 

not. 

2. t)| |tAbAif, thou wast 2. r)] TtAbAri)A]t, ye were 

not. not. 

3. t)| ]tA]b f6, h e was n °t' 3. V] jtAbAbAjt, they were 

not. 

ASSERTIVE PERFECT. 

1. bA, orbu8 rt)e, it was I. 1. bu8 fjw, ^ ^#s we. 

2. bu8 cu 3 it was you. 2. bu8 f ]b, zY was ye. 

3. bu8 e, it was he. 3. bu8 ]Ab, ^ was they. 

FUTURE. 

Singular. Plural. 

1. b&f8jb,* I will be. 1. bey|8rtr|b, we «02*7Z &e. 

2. b^|8||t, thou ivilt be. 2. b6]8c], ye will be. 

3. b(^8 f6, Ae w?z'/Z Se. 3. b^8|b, they will be. 

56.— POTENTIAL. 

1. (bo) b6]8^r>r>, I would be. I.b6|ttrjf, we would be. 

2. b6]8ce&, thou wouldst 2. b^q, ye would be. 

be. 

3. b6^8eA8 y e, Ae would be. 3. b^&jf , tf^ey would be. 

57— OPTATIVE MOOD. 

PRESENT TENSE. 

Singular. Plural. 

1 • 50 ^tAbAbj may I be. 1. 30 jtAbrnujb, we may be. 

2. 30 ]tAbA||t, magest thou 2. 50 ji^bcAO], ffttfy ye Je. 

je. 

3, 30 ji^vjb fe, //?ay he be. 3. 50 ]tAbA|b, may they be. 

58.— SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD. 

This mood is the same in form as the Indicative, 
having toa, "if/' prefixed to the affirmative— 30, 

* t)e]6, pronounced, " bay-ee." 






IRISH GRAMMAR." 55 

ss that, 5 ' to the negative form of the present and past 
tenses ; and bA, " that," to the potential, which thus 
receives much the same meaning in time, as the plu- 
perfect subjunctive of English verbs. 

59— INFINITIVE MOOD. 

PRESENT TENSE. 

<£)o be]C, to be. 
60,— PARTICIPLES. 

PRESENT. PERFECT. FUTURE. 

A]5 he]t 9 being. -|<vft n>be]£, having been, xvjft c] be]t* 

about to be. 
]A|t=of^r) Hence ia^ Tt)-be]c, means, after being, or 
Aj]t=0ft J A^ft bejc, on being. having been. 

This and all other verbs in Irish are conjugated in 
another more simple form — which is used very much 
in the spoken language — by expressing after the verb, 
as it is found in the third person singular of each tense, 
the personal pronouns, n)e, "I;" cu, "thou,'' or 
"you;" fe, "he;'' xh "her;" X]VV 9 " we;" i*|b, "ye;" 
pAb, " they." 

EXAMPLE. 

PRESENT TENSE. 

Singular. Plural. 

1. ca Tt>e, I am. 1. ca X]VV 9 we are. 

2. ca cu, Mow ar£. 2. ca f^b, yaw «r^. 

3. ca fe, Ae is. 3. ca l*]Ab, £A<?y «rf 9 

PAST TENSE. 

1. bi rrje, I vms. . Lb] t*|t)i), we? t#6?r<?. 

2. b| cu, £A#w w#s£. 2. bi pb, you were. 

3. b] x e 9 he was. 3. b] 1*]Ab, they were. 

FUTURE TENSE. 

1. b&|6 rrce, I shall or will 1. b£]8 i*]r)o, «0£ sAtf/7 or 
be. will be. 



56 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 



2. b&|8 cu, thou shalt or 2. hh\6 y]b, ye shall or 

wilt be. vrill be. 

3. b6|8 fe, he shall or will 3. hh\6 -pAb, £A<?y shall 

be. or will be. 

. PASSIVE VERBS. 
61.— INDICATIVE MOOD. 

PRESENT TENSE. 



Singular. 

1. btuvjlceAji (=booilthar) 

rrje, Z«m beaten. 



Plural. 
1. buAjlceAjt fiw? we #?*£ 
beaten. 



2. bit<v|lceAfi cu, £/&0w #/£ 2. biiAilceAfi f]b, ye are 



beaten. 
3. bu&jlceAjt f6, Ae 
beaten. 



beaten, 
is 3. buA]lceA|t -|A&, £/i£2/ are 



2t)eAlceA|t rt)e, "I am deceived;" ce]lceAft, "I am 
concealed ;" beAt)U|5ceA|t (t is, always, aspirated after 
an aspirated consonant, but sounded after a conso- 
nant sounded), " I am blessed ;" all synthetic tenses of 
all passive verbs, are thus inflected. 



PERFECT TENSE. 



Singular. 
1. buA]lcAb rrje, / was 
beaten. 



Plural. 
I. buA^le^S f]t)v 9 we were 
beaten. 



2. buAjleAb cu, thou wast 2. bit^leAb pb, ye were 



beaten. 

3. bu^leAb fe, Ae was 
beaten. 



beaten. 

3. buAjleAb -|Ab, £Aeg/ w?ere 
Seated. 



All past tenses of the synthetic form, are as this ; 8 
or 5 are here never sounded, aj8, 0|8, ]8, uj8, a]5, ]j, 
u|3, are all pronounced as ee in meet ; but ]8 of the 
future=£ short. 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 57 

FUTURE TENSE. 

Singular. Plural. 

J . buA]lfreA]t rrje, / will be 1. buAilfreAjt X]W> we will 

beaten, be able. 

2. buA|lfreAfi cu, thou wilt 2. buAilfreAfi |*|b, z/e wzV/ 

fo beaten. be able. 

3. buA]lpeA|t e, Ae will 3. bu&]\fe&y,]&b 9 they ivill 

be beaten. be able. 

^Ab, the accusative form, and not ffAb, the nominative, 
is used in all the passive tenses. 

N.B. — The imperative is like the present of the 
indicative. 

62.— HABITUDINAL MOOD. 

PRESENT TENSE. 

Singular. Plural 

1. buAjlq rne, I am 1. buA^lq f]W, ice are 

usually beaten. usually beaten. 

2. buA^lq cu, thou art 2. buAjlq f]b, ye are, Sfc. 

usually beaten. 3. .buAjlq ^Ab 5 they are, 

3. buA]lq e, Ae £s, #c. 4* c « 

PAST TENSE. 

Singular. Plural. 

1. buA^lqbe nje* I was 1 . btuvjlqSe V]W* we were, 

usually beaten. &fc 

2. buA]lc|8e cu, tfAow wast 2. buA]lc]8e, j^b, ?/e? were, 

usually beaten. Sfc. 

3. buA]lq'8e e, he was 3. buA^lq8e ]Ab, #Aey 

usually beaten. were, Sfc. 



* j: not 6 in this place would appear to some the proper letter. My 
ear does not clearly tell me, that this form of the verb is in common 
use amongst the peasantry, but if it is used, the b, it occurs to me, 
ought to have an accent. 



58 IRISH GRAMMAR. 

63 POTENTIAL MOOD. 

PRESENT TENSE. 

Singular. Plural 

1. 30 rn-buA]lxeAji* 1 TJ e 9 1* 5° rr)-buAjlceA]t |i)i) s 

£Aa£ / may be beaten, that we may be beaten. 

2. 50 Ti}-buA|lceAjt £u, £Aa£ 2. 30 rn-buAilceAjt |b, 

yow way be beaten that ye may be beaten. 

&. 50 n?-bu A] Ice aji e, ^Aa£ 3. 50 rn-buA]leeA]t ]Ab, 

Ae may be beaten. that they may be bedten. 

FAST TENSE. 

Singular. 

1. 30 rf)-buAilq8e,t or 30 rr)-be:|8e|i) buAjlce, I would 

be beaten. 

2. 30 ro-buA^lqSe cu, 3/0^ would be beaten. 

3. 30 Tt}-buA]iq8e e, A^ would be beaten. 

Plural. 
1 30 Tt)-buA^lc|8e |*]t)i)j we would be beaten. 

2. 30 rn-btuvflq&e fib, z/<? would be beaten. 

3. 50 Tt)-buA]lc]8e ]&t>i they would be beaten. 

64.— SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD. 

PRESENT TENSE. 

For this tense prefix rv& to bit<v|lceAjt nje ("if I be 
beaten,") &c, or to burjcAft, or any such word, and 
you have it ; and for the past tense, | prefix bA and rp, 

* Za frjor AgAri) 50 TT»-buA|lceAti me, " there is knowledge with 
me (I know) that I may be beaten." This form is like the Latin 
.optative mood, as in the old grammars; and may be in some places 
translated, " may I be beaten ; thus, 50 tj A6fut]o6Ajt A5ur 50 molcAfi 
cu co]&ce a be 6fiocA|tiA|5, "0 merciful God, may you be ever praised 
and adored/' 

f -DubAfic me 50 m-buA]ln63 roe, " I said I would be beaten." 
j Though this tense is, in grammar, called past, it really represents 
future time. 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 59 

or such eclipsing letter as will suit the initial consonant 
of the verb, and the tense is formed, thus, bA rn-bttA]l- 
q8e rt>e, " if I would be beaten," 8cc. The same rule 
holds good in the active voice, "p not t most authors 
insert in this word and the like, but I am taking my 
work mostly from the living Irish language, which is 
the key to an accurate knowledge of it. 

65.— INFINITIVE MOOD (one tense only.) 

21 he]t bailee,* " to be beaten :" past participle, 
bailee, "beaten;'^ future ^participle, ]OT) bailee, 
" about to be beaten," literally " fit beaten ;" ^A|t n> 
be^c buAjlce, "having been beaten," literally " after 
to be beaten." 

Another mode of inflecting a passive verb is by 
placing the past participle of any verb after the verb 
bo be]c, through all its variations, as "to be," in 
English, for example, c&jrn, or ca me btuvjlce, " I am 
beaten :" b]8 rrje bu^lce, " I was beaten ;" be^8 rne 
buAjlce, " I will be beaten/' 

66.—HABITUDINAL MOOD. 

PRESENT TENSE. 

Singular. Plural. 

1. bib^TT) btuvlce,| •/ do be 1. b]8rt)]b bu^lce, we do 

beaten, or am usually be beaten, fyc. 

beaten. 

2. b]8|]t bu^lce, you do be 2. h|8q bu^lce, ye do be 
~ beaten, Sfc. beaten, Sfc. 

3. bj8 ye bailee, he does 3. b]8^b buAlre, they do 

be beaten, Sec. be beaten, 8fc. 

* The only form of the Irish passive verbs that is aspirated, as far 
as I can recollect, is what Dr. O'Donovan and the Rev. Mr. Bourke 
call the consuetudinal mood, ri)ol£Ai6e, buA]l^]6e (-\6=ee always). 

f Prefix 50 and the proper eclipsing letter, and add the past par- 
ticiple, and you will have a subjunctive habitudinal mood, as, 50 m- 
b]6|m buAilce, 50 n>be]6]b buAflre. 



60 IRISH GRAMMAR. 

PAST TENSE. 

1. b|8|r)r) buAilce, / used to be beaten, or was usually, 
67 SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD. 

PRESENT TENSE. 

Singular. Plural 

1. 30 b-^ljrr) (=willim) 1. 50 b-^itiliDUib buAike. 

buA]lce, that I am 
beaten, Src 

2. 50 b-^rujl zu buA]lce. 2. 30 b-fujl y]h bitA]lce. 

3. 30 b-pu]l ye bu^lce. 3. 30 b-p u]l|b, or 50 b- 

^u]l fjAb buA^lce. 

PAST TENSE. 

Singular. 

1. 30 jiAbAb, or 30 jiAb (=r<5o) roe buA^lce, that I was 

beaten. 

2. 30 jia^ga^, or 50 ftAb cu (tthoo) bu&]lze.' that thou 

wast beaten. 

3. 30 |Kvb fe buAjlce, that he was beaten. 

Plural. 

1. 50 jiAbrrju^b buAjlce, we were beaten. 

2. 30 TiAb&bA|t buA^lce, ye were beaten. 

3. 30 jtAbAbAft, or 5° T 1 ^ T1 Afc> buAilce, Ma£ we were 

beaten. • 

FUTURE TENSE. 

Singular. 

1. 30 ro-be^8|r;t) buA^lce, £A#£ I would be beaten. 

2. 50 Tt)-be]8ceA (=may-hd) buA^lce, *Aa£ i/ow would 

be beaten. 

3. 50 Ti)-be]8eA8 |*e buAilxe, £Aa£ Ae would be beaten. 

Plural. 

1. 30 Tt)-be]8rt)U|b buA]lce, that we would be beaten. 

2. 50 ro-beiq, or rt)-bqc f|b buA^lce, £/m£ ye would be 

beaten. 

3. 30 itHbejbjf buAjlce, £Aa£ fAey would be beaten. 



. IRISH GRAMMAR* 61 

68.— POTENTIAL MOOD. 

PRESENT TENSE. 

Singular. 

1. b-frej&|]i 50 rn-be]8 rrje bttA]lce, / may be beaten. 

2. b-f^b|]t 50 n)-b6]8 zu bu^vjlce, you may be beaten. 

3. b-£e|bjji 50 TT>-b(^|8 fe buAjlce, he may be beaten. 

Plural. 

1. b-£e]b|]t t;& Tt)-be^8rr)jb buA]lce, we may be beaten. 

2. b-^6]&|jt 30 n?-be|8c] buAjlce, ye may be beaten. 

3. b-fre|&||t 50 n)-be]8^b buA]lce, ^Aey war?/ be beaten. 

As regards the formation of the tenses ana persons, as the oldest 
Latin grammars do not treat of such matters, I omit that subject, 
and I call attention* to the terminations and endings of what verbs 
are given, by observing which the student will have no difficulty in 
writing any Irish verb. 

The only remark necessary to be made is this, that, as the impera- 
tive is the root, like ama in Latin (ama-re), by annexing 7m, you have 
the synthetic present, and by post-fixing me, you have the analytic 
indicative, as 5tiA6u]oim, or 511A6U75 me. By aspirating the initial 
consonant, and exchanging uio for a6, you have the infinitive, as 
5jia6a6 (—grawoo), " to love'' ; but if a slender vowel go before the 
final consonant, in that case, to form the infinitive, you infix u, as 
Ti)fn]5 (=meenee), minfu^Afc, t4 to diminish." 

69.— IRREGULAR VERBS. 

The Rev. Ulick Bourke, in his grammar, reckons 
only ten, and, he says, that these are only defective, 
but he maintains that they are regular, as far as they 
go. He urges that the borrowed tenses, in some 
of them, are from obsolete verbs ; he adds, that the 
French has sixty-eight irregular verbs, and that in 
the latter language a great many letters are quiescent, 
or have sounds quite different from their appearance ; 
yet, strange to say (he exclaims), our people call it a 
difficulty, which they are unwilling to encounter, to 
learn their mother tongue, whilst they spare no pains 



62 IRISH GRAMMAR. . 

to acquire a knowledge of a vastly more difficult, and 
a foreign dialect." He expresses an ardent hope, that 
Irishmen will throw off such apathy. 

Space will not allow me to inflect the irregular 
verbs, but with the help of a dictionary, such as 
O'Brien's, the student will easily learn these verbs. 

70.— ADVERBS. 

An adverb is a part of speech joined to a verb, an 
adjective, or an adverb, for the purpose of expressing 
some circumstance respecting any of them. 

Irish adverbs are simple or compound. The former are never written, 
unless incorporated witfr other words ; such are An, like the Latin in, 
being intensive or negative ; AnAc-ftAc, " very convenient," or " in- 
convenient." Even in English " in" has the same import, as " ^valu- 
able," of great value, or valueless. Besides An, we have &6, yib, attj, 
or A]TT), b]t or &]c, e' or e&5 or eu5, eAr, 7^5, 713, same as An, rn-7, 
neAri), A7r, ejr , Ac, vwt, and perhaps a few others. The compound 
adverbs, as in French, are generally made up of a preposition and 
adjective, a participle, or a noun, as the case may be, as Ie-Abu7& or 
APU76 or 50-IJAPU76, "quickly," that is "with ripe"; le reun, 
"luckily," or "with luck;" 50-&eAtxbcA, "certainly," or "with 
affirmed." Such words can be scarcely called adverbs in any lan- 
guage, yet they are in all languages ; — avec hauteur, " haughtily," 
that is, " with haughty ;" propterea, " wherefore," that is, " on account 
of these things ;" quam-ob-rem, " consequently," that is, " on account 
of which thing"; also, rovvexa in Greek; as, however, valde bene, 
satis grande, are not joined in Latin, it is inelegant to write 5o-rnA]t, 
but 50 rr>A|c ; yet tto-mA]t must be written, as fto, in this place, is an 
inseparable particle. We must say, An-mAjc, tiJ-mAjt, p-foti-njAiG, f° r 
the above reason. Inseparable particles must be always attached, 
though separable ones are to be detached, as !>Abu76 (or Apuje) 50 
Iua6, " early." In looking for a word in an Irish dictionary, the 
adventitious letter must be put out of view ; for instance, Abu76 is the 
word to be found, not \) -AOU76 ; 07ttb7ftc, not c-07ftb7ftc, is the word 
in the vocabulary. 

71— PREPOSITIONS. 

A preposition is a part of speech set before a noun 
or pronoun, or used in composition, as, bo SeA^Ai), 
"to John," birjc (=bo cu), "to you;" cori)-]or)&V tyv 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 63 

*5&c* u]\e i)j8, " co-equal in all things." They are 
simple and compound; simple, as Ann, bo, le, cfie, 
&c. ; compound, as, cA-fjt-6-jf, Aift-6]f, caji-a||*, A|]t-v\]f, 
&c. ; separable, as these just given; inseparable, as 
co, corn, &c. 

72.— CONJUNCTIONS. 

A conjunction is a part of speech which connects 
words, clauses, or sentences. They are conjunctive 
and disjunctive. The conjunctive joins both the 
words or sentences, and the sense, as A3aj*, ]p,f i( and ;" 
the disjunctive unites or links the words or members 
of a sentence, but disjoins the meaning, as acc (in 
ordinary conversation ac is often used for acc), " but." 

73.— INTERJECTIONS. 

An interjection is a part of speech which expresses 
some sudden emotion of the speaker. 

The interjections were much used by the ancients, and are still of 
frequent use in the East, as they have been amongst all primitive 
tribes ; but they are not a sign of savagery ; for any pathetic language 
abounds in them. Some of the Irish interjections are a! "oh!" a- 
bu ! (recte A-buA6) " hurrah !" or " to victory !" — this was the war- 
cry ; oc ! " oh !" ocot) ! " alas !*' fU]Ule-lu6 ! " bloody wars !" £AftAoti, 
tnonuAn, " alas 1" rno nAitte t<x \ " fie !■" or " my shame you !" &c. 

74.— SYNTAX. 

Syntax is a treatise on the due arrangement of 
words, according to fixed rules, for the purpose of con- 
veying our ideas clearly. It is accurately divided into 
four parts, vi^» : concord, government, apposition, and 
figure. 

* Ujle* "all," ejle, " every," 5AC, "each," 5AC treAft, "each 
man." 

f Though ^r is found in old MSS. to denote "and," I think it is a 
'corruption for r, for A5ur. 

G 



64 IRISH GRAMMAR. 

The Irish concord is fivefold, 1st, between the article and the noun ; 
2nd, between the substantive and the adjective; 3rd, between the 
relative and the antecedent ; 4th, between the nominative case and 
the verb ; 5th, between the substantive and the substantive. 

Agreement is a sort of government, inasmuch as the former word 
commands or directs the other; thus, if the article be a particular 
gender, the noun or substantive must be of the same gender ; also, a 
noun generally guides the case, gender, and number of the adjective. 
I have said generally, because though the noun be in the dative case, 
the adjective is not. The person of the nominative case commands, 
or governs, the person and number of the verb ; the antecedent 
governs the case, gender, and number of the relative, and when two 
substantives are put in apposition, as SeA^An, &fU3-eA*rpAc tuAnjA, 
" John, Archbishop of Tuam," then the latter noun must be of tie 
same case as the former : this is called the fifth concord. 

75 — Government is that power which one word 
has over another. 

76. — Figure is a peculiar mode of expression, as 
when we use one case for another, which is of frequent 
occurrence, especially with the poets ; thus Dido says 
to iRneas, Urbem, quam. statvo, est vestra, " the city 
which I am raising is yours," in which "urbem," the 
accusative, is put for " urbs," the nominative. 

In Connaught, in a public address, the dative case is sometimes 
used for the vocative, as a ^e^nAib, " men," or u men." 

The rules of Syntax will be given in the order of 
the parts of speech ; hence the article will be first 
treated of. 

77 RULRS FOR THE ARTICLE. 

The Irish article, as regards its general use, and its 
position in a sentence, has nothing peculiar. 

Ba, bu8, the past tense of ]\ (" it is") mostly aspirate 
the initial consonant of the substantive or adjective 
which follows; bA 2t)|ceAl a 8ubA|ftc e, " it was Michael 
who said it;" bu8 ri)&]t At) caI]!?, " it was good the 
girl" (" she was a good girl.") In this phrase, though 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 65 

the definite article is used in Irish, yet in English we 
apply "a," the indefinite article. In some parts of 
Ireland, \) is prefixed for euphony, to words beginning 
withJvowels after b<x, bu8.* 

A writer on Irish grammar says, that the article is used before 
numerals. So it is in English, as "the one pound note, the two 
pound note," &c. There is no necessity to crowd a grammar with 
rules of this sort. He also adds, that U]le, when it signifies " every," 
requires the article before it. That is not true — c|a fcubAjfic n nn , 
"who said that;" ej]e o.ijrje, "every person;" here there is no 
article; but Hjle* unless in corrupt language, is " all," an indefinite 
pronoun, not " every" (e]le), which is a distributive pronoun. There 
is a peculiarity of idiom, as some think, which belongs to the Irish 
article — b]6 ha& 'tjt) a b-j:eAtxA]b AfibA, " they were tall men," lite- 
rally (according to some writers), " they were in their tall men ;" but 
this is a false version; it should be " they were in ( that is among) 
the tall men; just as we say in Latin, ''Sunt in bonis hominibus," 
" bonorum hominum" " de bonis hominibus," or "inter bonos homi- 
nes" " amongst" or " of good men." Any one having an ordinary 
knowledge of Latin will admit the accuracy of this translation ; cA re 
'wn a rcoUxjti-e thajc ; ca rf 'nn A cAifn 6^Ar, " he is a good scholar ; 
she is a nice girl ;" literally," he is in the good scholar (that is scho- 
larship — the concrete for the abstract noun, which is common in all 
languages) ; she is in the nice girl (that is girlship) ;" rA ye 'nn a 
f A5A]|tc, " he is a priest," or " he is in the priest" (that is, in the 
priesthood). In these phrases, rcolAjfie, caIju, rA5Aific, might be 
considered as used idiomatically, for rcolA]fiA|B, cAljnjb, rA5-A]ficA-|b. 
This being so, the expression is just as in Latin — "is, in, of, or 
amongst the good scholars — the nice girls — the priests." It has 
been a mistake with writers of Irish grammar to state that a is not 
used as an Irish article. I agree with O'Halloran, who says it is ; ca 
re x a Tu-bA]le, " he is at home," or " he is in the town ;" r is the 
preposition, and a is the article " the." 

Sometimes, though the article is used in English it is not in Irish, 
as lejj leAbA]ft tja rA5Atic, " read the books of the priests," but, 
properly speaking, " the priests' books." However, if I would talk 
of certain books of the priests', some would say, lej^ r>& leAbA]tt tja 
rA5<\fic, " read the books (that is, the certain books) of the priests. 
But this appears to me a frigid clause. In such phrases the former 
article is usuallv omitted. 



* Here note that 7 after a noun shows the noun is feminine, and, 
therefore, cAlfo is feminine. 



66 IRISH GRAMMAR. 

In Connaugbt we have one peculiar mode of expression, as pe&ff 
c^ge, " the man of the house/' literally, " man of the house," or at? 
jreAft c|§e ; this latter expression I dont remember having ever 
heard in the West, unless in this way, jr n)<S]t at) £eAT> u lo e &*» " you 
are a good housekeeper." But if I am asking for " the man of the 
house," I will say, ca h-puil £(3An a z^e — here again is an exception 
from the rule, which aspirates the genitive case singular of masculine 
nouns ; ceAc is set down in dictionaries as the masculine gender, yet 
the c, in the genitive case, is not aspirated. I am inclined to think, 
that ueAC is naturally feminine, though it has the masculine article, 
as the word " woman," in Greek, takes the masculine article in the 
dual member. Moreover, it occurs to me, that tja cf^e is better 
than a C75 ; tja 5fte]ne, " of the sun," r>A being feminine, though in 
every language " sun" is masculine. I cannot understand how 5tt]Air 
is feminine, whereas the pagan Irish adored him as their great God. 
I think that this, too, is an idiom. In French, Latin, and Greek, " the 
sun" is he ; even a stone is in Latin he, and in Greek she. The term 
gender, save only as far as it regards animals, is, in grammar, an ideal, 
not a real name, used for convenience. Perhaps jreAtt a rije is ellip- 
tical, b* for so being omitted. If so, the translation is ** a man for 
the house," equal to the French phrase, unefemme aux huitres, "an 
oyster woman," or " a woman for oysters." 

From what has been said, it appears that the article is not prefixed 
to names of small towns or villages, as l)A]le-lj-Abu|n, u Ballyhavnis" 
or " Riverstown ;" l)A]le-AtA-cl|At, " Dublin," or " the village of the 
ford of hurdles," though now a distinguished city, has not an article, 
because it was, at first, only a small place. 

1. When we would distinguish a man in English, 
we write or say, w the Patrick," so in Irish, at) PAqtAfc 
(=an Pawric). One who has written lately on gram- 
mar, lays it down, that the article goes before gentile 
nouns. That is partially true, but only as far as it is 
so in any language. We do not use the article before 
an indefinite gentile noun, thus we say only, S^SfAi)- 
tjac, "an Englishman," but at) Sa^ahac, "the Eng- 
lishman." The use of our article, in this respect, is 
the same as that of the English one ; jaII, "a stranger ;' 
at) jaU, "the stranger; UIcac, ."a Northern 5" at> 
UIcac, " the Northern." 

2, The article is used before the names of virtues, 
vices, and abstract nouns, as in French. For example : 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 67 

5o|b e t>]8 at) c|te]beATii,* " what is faith/' In this 
sentence we dont give the English of ah, " the." I 
must, at the same time remark^ that we say, -50]^ e y]6 
bjorneAf, " what is pride." However, some say 50]^ 
e T)|8 at) bjomeAf. The latter is the better phrase. 

3. Before foreign countries and their chief towns, 
rivers, months of the year, and before the names of 
places at home, for the sake of pre-eminence, as tta 
b-&]rieAins " of (the) Ireland ;" tta 2t)j8e, " of (the) 
Meath," or (I have seen a silly distinction as regards 
the feminine and masculine gender, of which space 
does not allow me to take further notice), "of the 
parts," as that county or " Royalty" consisted of parts 
taken from the other provinces, to constitute a Supreme 
Royalty for the ard-ree, or high king. The general 
rule is, whenever "the" is used in English, An or a is 
used in Irish. The governed noun in Irish always fol- 
lows the governing noun; this is not so in English and 
Latin, but it is in French and Greek.which is an evidence 
of their identity with our language. A word, having 
an initial vowel, will, generally, for the sake of euphony, 
take v (wherever an eclipse would occur), in words 
which begin w T ith a consonant. This is precisely what 
is observed by Greek writers. ) (in), takes n, if the 
word after it begins with a vowel, whatever part of 
speech that word is. 

78.— THE GOVERNMENT OF SUBSTANTIVES. 

When two substantives, signifying different things 
come together, the latter is governed by the former, 
(even though this be a quality of thai), as, rl]Ab at; 

* Cad e is the proper expression ; the reader will remember, that 
& sounds always as th in thouyh, the tongue protruded between the 
teeth; 501b e {gudh ay) is the vernacular language, Cfiettb e is the 
language of Donlevy. 



68 IEISH GRAMMAR. 

t-]*A5^ftc, ''mountain of the priest/' or u the priest V 
mountain." 

Here note, that, though the definite article, the, be expressed before 7 
each of two English substantives, such as mentioned above, yet, in 
Irish, the article is placed only before the latter, thus, " the top of 
the rod," b&ri ha rlo^ce. The student — a stranger to our language — 
must look closely to this remark. 

If a question is put, or if emphasis or distinction is required, instead 
of the genitive, we use the dative or ablative, with the preposition bo, 
44 to ;" le or le^r, " with" or '• by," and the assertive verb rr, as if lejr 
An c-rA5Artic Arj rljAb ro, "it is with the priest this mountain" — - 
" this mountain is the priest's." 

When fi of" means '« out of," or " among," as " one of the poets," 
then the latter substantive cannot, as in Latin, be put in the genitive, 
but in the ablative, as indeed it may also be in Latin, as 5AC Aorj be 
t)a l^iATirjAib, »' each one of the soldiers," or " Fiana," that is, " out of" 
or " amongst the Militia." In Latin we say, quisque militum, de } or 
,ex militibus, or inter 1 milites ; not so in Irish. 

If the genitive case of a proper noun begin with an aspirable con- 
sonant, even though the article be not expressed, the consonant is 
aspirated, as l)Aile Tbu|l]nn, " Miltown," leAbAn SeA^n, " John's 
book." However, fc> and 5, not aspirated, may sometimes sound better. 
Some excellent writers aspirate the genitive singular of even common 
nouns of the masculine gender even without the article. 

Some grammarians assert that o, ua, U], m<\c, do not aspirate proper 
names of families. These writers must not have mixed intimately with 
the Irish speaking population, else they would not have ventured the 
statement without qualifying it. In Connaught (which is my native 
province), and amongst the labourers who come to Dublin, on their 
way to England, I made myself positive that the assertion is not a 
fact. I asked an excellent musician, who plays in this city, what was 
his name. I addressed him in the vernacular, and he answered, ZFj&c 
'OorjACA, pronounced moc ghonougha (Mac Donough). In page 504, 
A.D. 1315, Annals of the Four Masters, edited by Dr. O'Donovan, 
I find, U] CorjcobA|ri, " of O'Connor," in which c is aspirated ; and in 
page 506, A.D. is read, 6 c-ConcobAjjt,, «« O'Connor ; here 6 causes 
eclipses, c being used generally in old MSS. for 5, as the "eclipsing 
letter. This makes me suppose that, occasionally, the old writers sub- 
stituted eclipse for aspiration. Again, if we find old authors using 
a certain mark in some passages, and if the same mode be the common 
practice amongst our peasantry, we must arrive at the clear conclusion, 
that aspiration was the rule, and that the absence of the mark of 
aspiration arose from one or other of two causes, viz., that time de- 
faced it, the point (•) being so small, or, that the writer omitted it 7 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 69 

feeling that his readers could easily supply it ; moreover, I give a 
case in point from memory : — I remember, when a child, that a man 
lived in the town in which I was born ; we never called him but 
SeAQAn ua t)ori)T/A-|U (shawn ee ghaneiil). I knew him by no Other 
name. A late w 7 riter on grammar quotes, in sustainment of his assertion, 
an author who, as I learned in that author's native town, knew not 
Irish grammatically, and who could speak it only very imperfectly : of 
this fact I am myself aware. This I can state, that my family, if 
speaking of a member of a family, and not prefixing the Christian 
name, would say, for instance, %T)ac uj btM^T}, " O'Brien," literally, 
44 a descendant (or son) of the offspring of Brien ;" o-fibUfJ %0&c Ui 
bniAn, " order O'Brien." This is the common expression, so that, in 
such case, " Mac" and " 0" are used. Euphony may, now and again, 
require an exception, as I stated already in regard to & and c, thus, in 
2J)ac CAfificA, an aspiration on c would create a continued rough 
sound, as having after it rin and t, each of which is rough; also, 
2T)ac CoclA]n w r ould be unmusical; whereas, by inserting an unaspi- 
rated c, as the first letter of CoclA]n ; the c in thac so blends with 
CoclAjn, that they sound on the ear as if rr)&cocl!\}t) ; but if I say ry&c 
U] CArincA (MacCarthy) thac U] cocUvn (MacCoghlan), my language 
is rendered musical by the use of the symphonic u], and thus the 
disphony is prevented.* 

79.— THE GOVERNMENT OF ADJECTIVES. 

1. Adjectives of fulness, emptiness, likeness, priva- 
tion, or want, govern the genitive case, as, ]otda8 
5|t£|3f3, l&rjcojtcA|8, u many of Greeks (many Greeks), 
full of fruits ;" ea/pbit|8eAC fttb&jlce, " wanting (of ) 
virtues;" rrjAC if att)au]1 aca"ji, " a son (it is) like a 
father;" talis pater qualis films ; "cat after kind," is 
an aphorism in common use amongst the peasantry ; 
here mental likeness is expressed. 

V/hen external or physical likeness is intended, we say, ir cororrjAil 
&t) tt)Ac le-n AiA]ti, " it is like the son with the father" (the son is like 
the father) ; n is on'y euphonic, and must not be printed with either 
word, but is to be sounded with le, and written le-n ; a, " his," in 
this place is, for euphony, generally omitted. The Greek authors 
abound in instances like this insertion of n. 

* In page 385 of Dr. O'Donovan's Grammar is found %)ac U] VJW^n. 
the usual version, though not the literal, is "O'Brien," for, the literal 
is " Mac O'Brien," or " son of a descendant of Brien." This clause 
is taken from An. Four Mast., A.D. 1559. 



70 IRISH GRAMMAR. 

t)e. &' is frequently used before the genitive case ; the ablative 
case plural with be is used after the above adjectives, as Vatj be 
VeAtiAib, " full of men ;" eArbu]6e-Ac tie rubAjlqAib, " deficient in" 
or " of virtues ;" but this form of language is not usual. 

5 e* ?T)u|tcA6 at? £eA|i ir rAj&bne e]&rrt (or &e) tja jreAtuMb, 
"Morgan is the richest man amongst (or of) the men ;" n 2t)Aitie 
tUAtAjTi Crtjorb, ah beAn ]r beAnr)uio6e cati runAOjb, ei&Tfi rnnAob, 
or e>e nmAojb, " above women," " amongst women," or " of women." 

2. Dimension or measurement is expressed by a noun, 
not by an adjective, as, ceAC y\C]6 rjae|7;e,t (or Cjtej- 
5jb), or coy A, or cofA]b aji (or At)n), frAb, " a house 
twenty feet in length." 

A Latin scholar sees, at first glance, that nc]6, W1 ' tn the noun, 
is the accusative case, on £a&, " long," or "length" If I mistake 
not, I used to hear some of the peasantry say, t\ mo cAlUtbr A- c m 
peinnt> i)for lejcna tja &o talUm-fA, " ray land is by three 
perches wider than yours." This is exactly as in Latin — ager meas 
in latitudinem centum et viginti vergis magis jacet quam tuus. I 
could find no Latin term to express "perch," and I was, therefore, 
obliged to supply an equivalent, " 120 yards." Notwithstanding 
what I have written, my opinion is that rfi] pejj-iy-fb depends on the 
preposition 16, " by," which is understood. 

N.B. Adjectives signifying knowledge, love, or any affection of the 
mind, do not, as some writers assert, govern a genitive case, as the 
case supposed to be governed by them depends on a preposition, ex- 
pressed or understood, thus, eolAc y ati b-ceA5A]r5 ril, "learned in 
that doctrine." ZeA^-x]x^ depends on r, the preposition. 

3. The comparative degree is followed by n&, having 
after it the like case as went before it ; the a in rj&, 
44 than/' "nor," "not/' being accented to distinguish it 
from t>&, " of the." The superlative degree does not, 
as in Latin, govern a case, but it is followed by be (in 
some writings bo), or some preposition, with such case 
as the preposition requires: b| 2t)&|jxe !*AO]8bA|ft 
(s^vvir) Awy V& |*ubA]lc|8|b a bjo8 ji]accat;ac. 

* 'S e=ir e must be never joined, though pronounced as if one 
Word ; such is the system as regards Greek particles, 
f CeAc |:|cj6 cfiejojb Ari fAt». 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 71 

80.— GOVERNMENT OF PRONOUNS. 

This part of my treatise will be given under the 
proper heads. Their government has nothing peculiar, 
and as regards what some grammarians say about the 
objective case of the pronouns being almost invariably 
placed after the nominative case (the latter itself being 
for the most part after the verb), this is only natural, 
inasmuch as the accusative of nouns, of which pro- 
nouns are only the representatives, are placed after 
the nominative ; though, in Irish, the nominative and 
objective, in prose, always, go after the verb, and gene- 
rally in poetry, yet, in the latter, there may be an 
exception. 

4i CAjtflC cum at) cuAjtj bjbjticeAc 6 &T\ie." 

• " (There) cauie to the beach (a poor) exile of Erin." 

Archbishop MacHale. 

In another line we find the nominative case before 
the verb :- — 

" 2f)o cftujc cao]T) x)] cfio-|Tj£eA\& 50 1)-eu-5 ^ V* tD-bl&cA 
¥-&}\ze ri| cuuatjb on m' cUnn m' AtAfi A'r mo o A °ll-" — Hid. 

In this line -p^vjlce, " welcome," is the accusative 
case on cuj|tf |b. 

81. —GOVERNMENT OF VERBS. 

Active transitive verbs govern the accusative case of 

nouns and pronouns, and this case is (except some few 

instances in poetry) always placed after the nominative, 

the latter being mostly after the verb, as 5 buA]l ye e, 

" he beat him ; v biiAil f]Ab fAb, " they beat them ;" 

biiA^l f] f, "she beat her ; b<yf|*b ah j*A3Aftc at) leAnb, 

" the priest baptised the child/' 

Some would fain make it appear that n A *>i nnn, Th re, &c, are 
nominatives, and that ja&, inn, 1, e, are accusatives. This is idle 
talk ; for the latter are nominatives in the passive verbs. The 
truth is, that, as the nominative and accusative of nouns, at least in 



72 IRISH GRAMMAR. 

modern language (there are exceptions in old writers), are alike, so are 
these of the pronouns, with this difference, that for the sake of euphony 
r is omitted from the pronouns, when they are used in the accusative 
case. There can be no difficulty in knowing the accusative case, as 
it comes afterthe nominative. The nominative and accusative are 
alike in French and English, and locality alone distinguishes them. 
So it is in Irish. The use of either form depends on some circumstance. 
A learned writer says, " If the article be expressed before the pre- 
dicate, then the attribute comes next after the verb, as ]r me An ^eAri, 
which is literally translated, 'it is I the man' (I am the man)." 
Now, An veAti, not me, is the attribute ; for the attribute is what is 
affirmed or denied of the subject, and, clearly, " the man" is what is 
affirmed of "I ;" ]r njrr e An bA-rib, " I am the poet," •• poet" is plainly 
what is affiirmed of mire or of " I." Again, it is not a fact that e, 
7, ]A&, ]nn, re, rj, &c. are, invariably, used in modern writing. These 
criticisms are made to call attention to these matters, and not in an 
unkindly spirit. I detest pedantic or insolent criticisms on any writer, 
as each does his best. Again, in another page, the same author 
says, "Some verbs require a preposition after them" — true, but the 
accusative case is suppressed, as in the very example hegves, ]<xri • 
Art t)|A, " asks of God ;" ]A|t Ari b]A e, " asks it of God ;" UbArn. le 
t)orimAll, •' speak to Daniel," is the same as if I said, lAbA|ri &' 
inncmn le ttonjnAll, <fc speak your mind to Daniel." 

82.— THE CASE ABSOLUTE. 

There is no such case known in the Irish language, 
because the meaning of such is, that it is independent 
of the rest of the sentence. That which some Irish 
grammarians call the dative case absolute, cannot be 
so called, because it depends on a preposition. Thus, 
Aft a m-be^c 8o \ &V *M C {awitk) " on his being (to 
be) in the place ;" a ro-bejc 8o is a synthetic dative 
case, governed by Art, and ai) k\c depends on the pre- 
position r\ 

It would be much better for writers not to encumber our syntax, 
which is, in itself, the most simple, its rules being few and easily 
understood. 

83. RULES FOR ASPIRATION. 

The aspirable letters are, m, b, p, -p , c, b, c, 5, f. 
(see chapter on letters.) 

1. All possessive pronouns, singular, except a, 



IRISH Git A MM Ail, 73 

" her," make the following consonant, if aspirable, to 
be aspirated, a?, rno ccad, bo ceAr), a ceAr>, "my 
head/' " your (thy) head/' " his head ;" but a, " her," 
does not aspirate, thus, a ceAr), " her head f Aft, " our ; ,, 
bAft, " your ;" a, " their," mortify the initial consonant, 
except Xi trms > ^T 1 TD-bAjib, " our poet;" bAft 5-ceAfic, 
"your right ;" a b-peACA8, " their sin ;" but we say 
A]t |*A3A]tc, "our priest;" b<\j% |*u]le, "your eyes;'' 
a |*l] ad, " their mountain." 

2. The genitive* singular, masculine, and the nom- 
inative and accusative singular of feminine nouns, when 
the article precedes, produce aspiration, at) b&]jtb, "of 
the poet ;" At) beArj, " the woman ;" x in T^oca^i ^ s 
not aspirated, as, Iuac j*AOCA]ft, "price of labor or 
reward;" but the initial consonants of genitive feminines 
are not aspirated, nor is if, " is,'' then mortified, thus, r)A 
cu|f*e, r)A ce||tce, "of the cause," "the hen's;" ha 
fjiA^be, "of the street/' 

3. Wherever other letters are aspirated in the sin- 
gular number, f is sometimes mortified, that is, it is 
silent, provided I, r>, ji, or a vowel follow it ; thus, at) 
c-f aIaca]|i, " of the filth ; at) c-rAjAjjic, " of the 
priest." 

In the genitive case singular, before cAVjn, " a girl," the masculine 
article is set, as ah (not ha) CAlfn, "the girl's ;" but the Greek has 
the same peculiarity as regards " woman" in the dual number; toj 
yvvaiKe, " the two women ;" here rca is the masculine article. It will 
be said that it is Attically for ra. Admit it ; so I say An before 
CAlfn is idiomatically for tja, " of the;" so also, tja srieioe for An 
otie]ne, " of the sun." Because of this peculiarity of these words, a 
grammarian has set down CAlfn as the masculine gender. This is a 
mistake, as will appear by the application ot the rule I laid down in 
the paragraph on genders. There I said, that the genders of nonns 
were discoverable at once in this manner : — any noun taking re or e 
after it is masculine — jreAfi n>A]c e r°» " a good man (is) he, this," 
that is, '* (this) he is a good man ;" but taking rj or ], the noun is 

* The initial mutable consonant of every vocative case is aspirated. 



74 IRISH GRAMMAR* 

feminine — cAlftj bear ] x°-> " a nice girl (is) she this," that is, " (this) 
she is a nice girl;" 5tVfAn* te]t e ro, u hot sun (is) he this/' that is, 
** (this) he is a sultry sun." Hence it is clear that 5w>i&t) is mascu- 
line, and cAl)f) feminine. No language with which I am acquainted 
has so facile a rule to fix the gender as the Irish. 

4. 2I5, A^ri, bo, 50, sometimes 5 at), and the other 
simple prepositions cause aspiration. Ba, or bu8, 
" was," being the past tense of ]f, cause aspiration, 
and if the following word begin with a vowel, \) is 
inserted, oa rj-A]r)l6iTi &> " he was an idiot." How- 
ever, this is not always the case, at least in Connaught. 
We say, b' AOib|i)i) 6u]T), "it was joyful for us," some 
say, bA8 AOib]t)r); if does not aspirate. 

5. 5°; V-°> fe0 9 a, generally before verbs, aspirate ; 
a, who, which, what, though understood, causes aspi- 
ration, as, at) c-e ce|l, " the he," or " the person (who) 
concealed," but in such a place as the above, b is not, 
always, aspirated ; for no one would write at) c-6 
8ubAi i ttc, yet we say, at) z-h but), "the person (who) 
closed/' t)ubA]Tic is the only past tense of an aspi- 
rable verb, not aspirated, as I think. The Rev. Mr. 
Bourke writes, that verbs, beginning with a vowel, 
require a prefixed \) in the past tense. This is not 
always so in Connaught, rj] ortbuj^n), " I don't order." 
it may be sweeter to insert the f>, but it is seldom 
done. 

6. All mutable consonants suffer aspiration when 
they are the first letters of the latter part of a compound 
word, as, fo-8eAT)ce, "easily done," or "practicable." 
But it is wrong to make '65 beAi), "young woman ;" 
Iuac cof, "swift foot,'' compound words. With as 
much propriety could " young-woman," "swift-foot," 
be written in English, or bonus-puer, malus-puer 9 be 
written in Latin. It is time to put an end to such a 
practice, it being incorrect — see rule on hyphen. 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 75 

S, b, c (unaccented) and v 9 being the last letters of 
the first part of a compound word, do not aspirate the 
consonant after them— nje&c&v bu]8e, " a carrot;" but 
it is wrong to write, ^jib-T^A^A-fir^, " Supreme Lord." 
A person who carefully watches the compounds of 
any other language, will see what ought to be the 
compound Irish words. We must write 2ifib R|j, 
* { High King," not 2i|tb-K]3. We must walk with 
the times. 

I may as well, in this place, dispose of the rules for the use of the 
hyphen. 

1. The hyphen (-) is Used in connecting compound words, as Ajfi- 
ejr ; also, when part of a word ends a line, and the remainder is in 
another line. In this case it is placed at the end of the first line, and 
not at the beginning of the second. 

2. The hyphen must not be used when each of the two substantives 
retains its own accent, as l|A frSxjl, " the prophesying stone." The 
hyphen must be used when the latter loses or changes its accent, 

3. If two substantives are in apposition, and either of them can be 
separately applied to the person or thing designated, we must omit 
the hyphen, as £lft& bfiejc, " Chief Justice." However, when they 
are not in apposition, and one of them can be separably applied to 
the person or thing, then the hyphen is to be inserted, as bocA|l-bo, 
** a cow-boy." 

4. When one of the two substantives serves for an adjective, ex- 
pressing the substance of which the other consists, and that either 
may be ^placed first or second in order, then the hyphen must be 
omitted, as cloc ott— 6fi cloc, " golden stone," or " a stone of gold." 
Matter, not possession, is here meant, but, when one of the two sub* 
stantives signifies possession, or implies fof or belonging to, the 
hyphen must be used £eAft-ceo]l, *' a musician ;" beAn-cjt]oc&]l, "a 
knitting-woman." 

5. Between an adjective and a substantive the hyphen must not be 
used, as &tio Kepi), " high sway,*' or " supreme rule." If, however, 
the adjective and its substantive are used as a kind of compound ad- 
jective to another substantive, the hyphen is to be inserted, as be^5- 
eA5Uc, " little fearing," or " dauntless ;" Tnfij-rcfui&Ac, " close 
investigating." The above are the general rules for the hyphen. 

7.— All nouns, beginning with a vowel, and declined 
with the article, take \) before v* in the singular and 

n 



76 IRISH GRAMMAR. 

plural number, to prevent the hiatus (melody being 
the main cause of aspiration and eclipse) ; but the 
genitive plural takes t>, as t>a vu]Ue&VV, " of the 
elbows/' whereas the nominative is t)A b-u|lleAr)T)A, 
"the elbows." The u]lleAT)r)A, as the nominative 
plural, I have never heard used by the peasantry of 
Connaught. Instead of it I have known them to say 
tt)o 6a u|lleATK>, "my two elbow." The English 
language has a like idiom, " one trout," "two trout," 
the singular and plural being alike in form. 

8.. — Masculine nouns, beginning with a vowel, take 

c in the nominative singular, as At) c-ACAffi, "the 

father;" but in the genitive it is at) aca]%. Such is 

the rule for all nouns of this class. The perfect tense 

of almost all verbs is aspirated, whether a, bo, or fto 

be expressed or not. My opinion is, that a is not a 

preGx of that tense, but that it is a relative pronoun. 

I am likewise of opinion, that, in such phrases as 

the following, a is a personal pronoun, not a prefix, 

b' a \ ao]ia8, the usual but corrupt version of which 

is "to free;" whereas the true version is "to free 

her, him, it, them :" b' for bo f aojxa8 is the verb, a 

the pronoun. 

As regards bo, I am of opinion that it is to be used before the past 
tense, only when emphasis is to be expressed, or a question asked. 
I hold that' it is corrupt language to say, bo 6tin frjAttTnujb at) boftur, 
unless emphasis be intended ; for the version is " Dermod did close 
the door," whereas, 6tin t>]AfUT)U|b An bOTiur is translated, " Dermod 
shut the door." 

The relative is understood in such sentences as this- Co^aii bo 
bArb, " John, who baptized." It would be rather stiff Irish to write, 
C6£atj a bo bArb. 

84.— ECLIPSES.* 

Eclipse is the mortifying or deadening the sound 

* N.B. — 20, being the sweetest consonant, is never eclipsed, though 
it may be aspirated, as at; ttjaticac, « our rider." 



b 
b 


59 

5? 




3 


>> 


c, 


b 


}> 


^ 


V 


5) 


3' 


V 


5J 


&, 


z 


?5 


ft 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 77 

of one consonant, by prefixing another sweeter one of 
the same organ ; thus b is eclipsed, deadened, or ren- 
dered silent by rn, the sweetest of all the consonants. 

TABLE OF ECLIPSES. 

rt) deadens b, as a m-bo, their cow. 

, „ Ajt b-peAt)n, our pen. 

,, a b-ptr|ll, their blood. 

,, bujt 5«cu]f, your cause. 

,, Aft b-T^jAJAjtnA, our Lord. 

,, Aft n-5A]tA]8, (=nhawirddheen) 

owr garden. 

,, Aft tJ-bojtuf, (=nhurrus) owr cfotfr. 

,, At) c-^Iac, (=tthlotht) ^A^ rod. 

In page six of this work, r is printed as mortified, after An. 
That was an error; the plural pronouns a, " their." butt, "your," A|i, 
" our," dont mortify or eclipse r, though they do every other aspirable 
consonant. 

It is worth, while to observe the philosophy of the 
sounds of these letters : rn is sounded by the closing 
of the lips after pronouncing u (=00) and b by opening 
the lips after rn, just as in saying e (=ay) ; b is 
sounded by a less pressure of the tongue than t, and 
the tongue not so near the teeth as I or z 9 and in 
opening the mouth to finish the sound, the vowel ] is 
heard ; 5 is sounded by raising the top of the tongue 
a little higher up against the palate than for b, and 
the same vowel -\ is heard at the finish of its sound ; 
c is, also, sounded by keeping back the top of the 
tongue a little farther from the teeth than for z. The 
tongue is not pressed as much against the palate for 
3 and c, as for b and z ; 5 and c are never sounded as 
(j) and s, as we hear in " gender, cider, v but always 
as g in gat, and c in cat. 

*pp=b; cc— 5. 



78 IRISH GRAMMAR, 

X) (v, thus marked) is a dental, and therefore eclipses p, a dental;, 
rn is a labial, and eclipses b, another labial; for the same reason 
b eclipses p ; b-c; 5-c ; n-b, 5 ; c-r. The only dentals in the 
Irish language are £, p, b (dotted=*> or w). The only natural dental 
is p. There are three labials, m, b, p, and p partially so, and 
se\en palatals and Unguals, that is, these are produced by play- 
ing the tongue against the palate. The gutturals are formed 
by rough breathing, as c, f > =gh in the word " lough," as heard 
in Connaught, that is, before a, o, u, but §— y, before e, 7 ; 
c—ch, as the Greek % ; but sometimes aspirated letters are altogether 
silent at the end of syllables and words. So are letters in English, 
as Cholmondely—Chomley ; Colcoquhain—Colequain ; Colclough— 
Cokely ; Chelmsford=Chemsford ; Bright elmst one— Brighton ; colo- 
nel=cornel; corporal— corplar ; Urquhart=Urkart ; Walmsley= 
TVawmsley ; alms == ames ; psalm = saam ; damn = dam ; nigh , 
knight = nite ; ought =awte ; f ought— fawte ; apostle =aposle ; apo- 
ihegm=apothem ; phlegm=flem; physic=fissic ; pkthysic=tissic ; 
calf, Ralph, talk, caulk=kdfe, refe, tawlc, hawk, and hundreds more 
that could be mentioned. The perusal of the small columns in the 
first lessons of a spelling-book, or of a dictionary, will astonish the 
careful reader on this point. He will learn that there are, at least, as 
many silent letters as in Irish, whilst, in reality, there is hardly a 
silent letter in Irish, inasmuch as the mutable consonants take vowel 
sounds. The early mode of eclipsing c was by c ; p by p ; c by c. 

It is necessary to remind the reader, that c is the sound high up 
on the palate, by gently striking the tongue ; lower down, about half 
an inch, 5; b a little lower ; and c still lower, nearly at the teeth. C, 
at the beginning or end of a syllable or word, sounds as ^in " worth ;' ? 
b, at the beginning or end of a word or syllable, sounds as th in 
" there ; 175=?^ in one sound, as t)-5A|x=ww^or ; 77 in Greek is its 
nearest like sound. 

rules FOR eclipsing [deadening). 

1. — -All the plural possessive pronouns, Aft, bait,, a, 
our>yom\ their ; -\f 9 -|t)n, Ann, a, " in,* cause eclipse, 
if the article is used, but p is excepted, as already re- 
marked obove. 

2. — J a ft, a after,'* causes eclipse in nouns, verbs, 
and adjectives; a, ], "in," require \) before a verb 
which has an initial vowel. 

3. — The dative and ablative singular and the ge- 
nitive plural of nouns, declined with the article, have 
the initial consonant, except p, eclipsed, if it be 



IRISH GRAMMAR." 79 

eclipsable. But b and c, in the singular, are seldom 
eclipsed ; p at) borbAn, y at) caIatt;, " in the world, " 
"in the land/' though in the genitive plural, they 
are. 

4. — Mac, ca, at), a, as interrogative words, also 30 
and bA, as conjunctions, deaden or eclipse the initial 
consonant (if aspirable) of the word which follows; 
thus, ca b-pi]l b' ACA^jt ? " where is your father?" 

A grammarian talking of A75 and bo, says that Archbishop MacHaie 
has offended against strict propriety of etymology in this line — 
" 21 c& le 5-AlAti, 'sur le 5leo &' A5-cttAd<\6." 
" Who are by pestilence and war a-perishing." 

/r»A Homer. 

Now the author is in error in this instance, for A75, or A5 signifies 
" at," whereas bo before the infinitive mood is merely its sign, and not 
essential, because the idea of " to," is contained in the infinitive, as 
it is in every language: amare, "to love;" TU7rTeu/, "to strike;" 
frapper, ''to strike;" cftA©A6, "to perish ;" but there is a peculiarity 
in Irish and French. In these languages a preposition is often pre- 
fixed to the infinitive, which is not so in Greek and Latin ; A5 ctia6a6 
signifies " at perishing," but b* a cfiA6A6 means " to be perishing" — 
the interpretation of both is the same, but the grammatical structure 
is clearly different. Thus, we say teiru]^ re A5 c|ia6a6, " he began 
at perishing ;" ce]rui5 re b' a ctiadao, " he began to perish (or 
waste) him ;" b' a 5-CTIA0A6 " to perishing them," or " to the perishing 
of them ;" ca re A5 (or a) buAUo, " he is a beating ;" ca re b' a 
buAU6, " he is to beating," or " to him beating," that is, " he is 
beating him." 

85.— CONJUNCTIONS. 

Conjunctions have the same powers as in other 
languages. 

2t)&, "if," requires the indicative mood, present 
tense^ and aspirates the initial letter ; b&, " if/ go- 
verns the conditional mood, refers to time to come, 
and eclipses the initial consonant; tha buA]l rne ci?, 
"if I beat you ;" b& rn-buAjlpiut) (in Munster rr)-bu,\U 
f iw), '•* if I would beat/' 

The author alluded to above quotes several instances from old 



80 IRISH GRAMMAR. 

writings, which authorise the useof it in Connaughr. But, in fact, ! 
take the spoken authority as the best criterion of sound ; whatever 
may be wrong can be easily set right by the scholar. 

W&, "not/* requires the imperative mood; 50, 
"that/' TTM|t ^ "where/* rnurjA, "unless/' [fAjt, 
"after/' t)ac, t>ocA, cause eclipses. See Rules for 
Eclipsing, page 78. 

88— INTERJECTIONS. 

An interjection governs the nominative or vocative, 
as a <t)&> " O God (o 4)|A is also used);" a boccAjr/, 
a pejfc, u O poor man/ " O worm." In Connaught 
the dative is occasionally used, as a -peA|tA]b ; but this 
is only poetical, and not grammatical. 

For the rules of syntax, I recommend the Rev. Ulick Bourke's 
grammar, as being the easiest and most methodical. Dr. O'Donovan's 
is, of course, very excellent and learned, but it is too voluminous — fit 
only for the adult student. 

87 PROSODY. 

Prosody teaches the pronunciation of words and 
the laws of versification, and is therefore twofold. 
Prosody, being of such importance, is given in a 
separate treatise in Greek and Latin. I will, therefore,, 
give only an outline. 

88.— PRONUNCIATION. 

To this head belongs the consideration of accent 
and quantity. 

Emphasis is a stress of the voice on a particular 
word, to distinguish it from the rest of the sentence. 
Pause is a rest of the voice, either for limiting the 
sense or for melody. Tone is the sound of the voice, 
as high or low, plaintive or joyous. As these three 
belong to rhetoric, I omit the consideration of them in 
this place.. 



IRISH GRAMMAR, 81 

89. — ACCENT. 

I. — Accent may be placed on the first, second,, 
third, or last syllable of a word. The root has, for 
the most part, the accent on the first long vowel or 
diphthong, as b&f, "death;" b&frr)Aji, "mortal." 

2. — Dissyllables and trisyllables, having the vowels 
in two of the syllables long, have the accent placed 
differently in the several provinces. It is on both in 
Connaught, as b&|ld3, " a place of execution f p&]r~ 
qr;, " a little worm." 

An accent over one of two vowels, which would otherwise make a 
diphthong, parts them into syllables, as £&]6, T^ITN The omission of 
the accent is an evidence that the vowels are to be considered as having 
only one sound, thus be]fi, pronounced ber\ but, when the two vowels 
are essentially a diphthong, as eu in meuti (mare) the accent is not 
necessary. This rule is the same as diceresis ( •• ) in other languages, 
as " Cre-ator." 

3. The following are the places in which a greater 
stress is laid on the penult^ or ante-penult of a word i 
1st, Personal verbal nouns, in 6jft, e6]ft. 2nd, Per- 
sonal nouns in A]6e, u]8e^ ^8e, vrjge, ]^e (all =^-e), 
Art? A] I, all trisyllables of these classes of words are 
accented on the second, but, in some places, on the 
second syllables. 3rd, Also plural cases in eA6A, jb, 
or A|b. 4th, Dissyllables ending as above. 5th, Verbs 
in ujTjjrr), isjrr;, eocAb. In Munster the penult of these 
verbs is shortened. There may be a few exceptions 
to these rules. 

4. The accent will be also on the second syllable 
of a polysyllable, if that syllable contain a long vowel, 
as, ScAribogArjcu^je (sharvownthee-e) " a servant." 

STJoft qtoc-AtiAc (" more merciful,") and words of this class, have 
been hitherto very inelegantly written, with the hyphen, roori- 
£r\6c-AfiAc. As well might I print " more- merciful." 



82 IRISH GRAMMAR. 

90. — QUANTITY. 

Quantity is the time occupied in sounding a syllable, 
and is long or short. The Irish language has, in this 
respect, a great advantage over other languages, as 
found in authors, at least in monosyllables. For 
when a syllable is intended to be long, it is accented 
thus, b&x . Every vowel before an aspirated consonant 
is, by position, long, and does not require the accent, 
thus, |t|5=r^. Many words of this nature could be 
given. The accent makes a great change in the 
meaning of words, thus, cd|]t, means "just," whereae, 
co]|t, " a fault." The sound of the latter word is 
nearly kirr 9 u a fault." 

1. A vowel before two consonants in one syllable, 
is, in conversation, short. The observance of this rule 
by authors and students, will obviate much labor. 
This is the exact contrary of the Latin rule, vocalis 
lanr/a est si consona bina sequatur, " a vowel, if two 
consonants, or a double letter follows it, is long." Yefc 
strange, that Latin scholars at the present day pro- 
nounce it short, even in Trinity College. This is very 
corrupt. 

2. The vowel in monosyllables, when final, or fol- 
lowed by a single consonant, is long, as le, ca, f&l 
" heel" ; but j-ul " before," and f aI " filth," with a 
few others are excepted. Such monosyllables as have 
not two meanings require no accent, hence, ca, cu (f e 
means 4< he," and " six," but the context makes the 
distinction), le, ttca, bA, f|, and a few others require 
no accent, as they are invariably long, the accent 
being necessary only in some places for distinction. 
Ma, "than;" f&l, "heel;" ful, "eye" require the 
accent to distinguish them from tja, "of the;" fAl, 
"filth," pul, "before/' However, until the improve- 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 83 

merit of the language progress a little, the accent over 
them maybe useful; but when once understood, its 
use would be cumbrous. 

3. Syllables, which have aspirated consonants, dont 
require the accent, as all vowels before an aspirated 
letter are long by position, as beAT)U]5, -|rrj|5 (ujj;, 
ft=ee.) 9 

4. It is the vowel, which comes next the aspirated 
consonant, that is lengthened, and the other is silent, 
as above, but not always, asp&jS. This double accent 
is the Irish diceresis. 

5. Monosyllables ending in fifi, ftb, have the vowel 
long, as b&]tb, &jib, bAfijt. In course of time the 
accent for these words will not be required, when Irish 
prosody is understood, because a vowel before two con- 
sonants ought to be sounded long. 

6. Monosyllables, ending with an aspirated consonant 
have the vowel long by position, and need no accent, 
thus, |tA8 (=raw), "say;" -p^j (=faw), "find;" fu^j 
(=see), " sit ;" ^5 (=shee), " a fairy ;" but % in ^\]t (= 
rih) is short, as are all vowels before silent t. 

7. Unaccented vowels (as the Irish is, at present 
written) are short, except in such places as these for 
which I have given rules to make them long. 

8. A vowel at the end of a word of more than one 
syllable is either short or obscurely sounded, as molcA. 

9. The diphthongs eo, eu, -|0, Ae, ao, being, by 
authority long, require no accent ; Ae, eu, &o=zay in 
say ; *\&=eeu ; eo=eo in yeoman, the e and o being 
distinctly heard. 

10. All the triphthongs are, always, long. 

11. Compounds and derivatives follow the rules of 
the primitives. 

1 2. The first -] in -\ rljjltt) is pronounced long (ifVjsin)} 
though coming before two consonants. A few other 
exceptions may be met with. 



84 IRISH GRAMMAR. 

13. 21, i, 6, are always long in diminutives, as£eA|rjt), 
" a little man ;" beArrjt), " a little woman 5 ' b|lleo5 ? 
u a young leaf;'' <c&CAjt&r>, "a feeble child.' 

14. A single vowel before an aspirated consonant is 
always long, as bu8 (—boo), "was;" f]8 (—see), " a 
fairy hill;" ac (=ai(;), but C03, "choose,'* =tthou, as 
in thousand. 

15. The long diphthongs I have given above, but, 
e|, ], o, ]\x, .d], eA, u], O], are long or short by authority. 
They are always long by position in such places as 
are given in the third rule for aspirated consonants. 
Whenever poetic metre will have them long, that 
letter of them that is to have the long sound, must 
have the accent. 

16. G|, unaccented, =e in pet ; eA, — a in hat ; A], 
=d in hit, and sometimes as a in what, as a^i^I (=, 
ongil, in parts of Connaught) ; eA, sometimes —eu y as 
p^Ajt (—fayur), "grass;" 3eA]t (—gayur), "sharp, 
but in these two words u would be a more convenient 
letter. 

17. Jo is long or short, therefore the accent is 're- 
quisite over that vowel of it which is to be long, as 
qof ; without such mark, it is short, as ^]oy (=fiss), 
but before ex, it is long. Before aspirated consonants 
|0, =ee — see third rule. 



IRISH GKAJIMAR. 

ADDENDUM Irish Alphabet. 



85 



According to modern arrangement, the letters run thus — 
21 a, Bb, Cc, <Db, 6e, ? V , 3 3, J 1s LI, ?t)rrj, 
M 1,, O o, V ? , K|t, S r» ^ c, U u, ]). 









ERRATA. 




Page 6, 


line 5, 


for An n-CTtUA5 


read An n-snuA5 


— do. 


— 


16 


— cenje 


— ce]T7e. 


— do. 


— 


do. 


— &uip 


— &uin. 


— do. 


— 


18 


— Suil 


— Ruir. 


— 7, 


— 


10 


— Quenpc 


— Quetftc. 


— do. 


— 


27 


— -pile "NurbAf} 


— Pile ?T)un)Ain. 


— 12, 


— 


4 


— njvPcA]5 


— rnAncAiS. 


— do. 


— 


7 


— tthree 


— ghree. 


— do. 


— 


do. 


— hannee 


— bannee. 


— ■ do. 


— 


12 


— kuJc 


— sruh. 


— do. 


— 


18 


— pejfj 


— *©!»). 


— 13, 


— 


14 


— ou 


— eu 


— 14, 


— 


26 


read they are not a diphthong. 


— 15, 


— 


10 


for jreAn 


read jreAn. 


— 15, 


— 


13 


— Pl*OA5 


— ni^^S- 


- 16, 


— 


21 


— oo6Alc6ftt 


— &o b'Alcojn. 


— do. 


— 


do. 


— 5lAnui5ceofri 


— SlAnu]oce6|n» 


— 21, 


— 


23 


— ddhoun 


— dhunn. 


- 25, 


— 


27 


— 7^5 W>TA|6 


SASrAlJOAjb. 


- 27, 


line 11, 


for ceApc ; cejpce. 


— ceAnc ; ceip.ce. 


— do. 


— 


23, 


— cpeAr ; cpeAfA, 


— cneAf ; cneArA. 


- 28, 


— 


9, 


— cpeAr, 


— cneAr. 


— do. 


— 


11, 


— cpeAf ; cpevrAjb, 


— zp,eAx ; rneAfAjb 


— 31, 


— 


25, 


trLVfCATTjAjl, 


read plAjfcArbAjl. 


— 34, 


— 


10, 


— rnoonje, 


— cno]rne. 


— do. 


_ 


12, 


— lAC. 


( I AC A. 


— do. 


— 


35, 


— c-rA5v^rtr, 


— r-rASAinc 



86 



page 35, — 12, 

— do. — 26, 

— do. — 27, 

— 37, - 19, 

— do. — 21, 

— 45, — 26, 

— 47, — 11, 

— 48, — 15, 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 

— T1)A]6, 

— rib, 

— ribre, 

— yow infix A, 






,-;■*'< 



— rT1)UA]f)|T1). 



do. — - 9 from bottom, for careful carefulstyle, read careful 



do. do. dele requiring the subjunctive mood. 
do. do. for £eA&£eA6, read j:eAb£eA&. 
do. do. — j:eAb|:eAS, — peA&^eA.b. 



— 48,-6 

— 50,-6 

— do. — 4 



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